Meditations on the Colour Blue
by waterlilylf
Summary: When Wufei takes a sabbatical to finish his new book, his aim to write loses focus due to noisy neighbours...but is that such a bad thing when one of them happens to be a handsome prince? Wufei/Zechs get together. Yaoi. Background 1x2, 3x4. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: the Gundam Wing characters do not belong to me, and unfortunately I don't have a Spanish villa either.

Note: this is for Wolfje, on request, in honour of her amazing Powers of Perception, and was proofed by the much overworked, much appreciated Kaeru Shisho.

**Meditations on the Colour Blue:**

Chang Wufei had been raised in the belief that anger over trivial things was an unworthy emotion. Twenty eight years dedicated to self-mastery and discipline had earned him an orderly life based around a successful academic career, and, recently, some fame as an author.

He would not allow himself to feel anger or annoyance over a petty matter of inconsiderate neighbours who played music - or some travesty of the art - at such a ridiculously high auditory level late at night.

Quatre had assured him that the villa on the southern coast of Spain would provide a haven of peace and tranquillity; the perfect place for a harried author to finish of his latest book. Nothing had been said about neighbours who appeared to think they were running a nightclub.

It didn't matter. It shouldn't matter.

It was just yet another irritation at the end of a long day. The taxi had been late; the driver annoyingly, persistently garrulous. His flight had been delayed for some reason that had never been explained. His fellow passengers had been noisy and the teenage girl next to him had spent the three hour flight with music throbbing out of her earphones.

Music….

It was intolerable.

Would it have hurt his neighbours to have just a little consideration for other people?

Wufei's headlong march up the neighbouring avenue was stopped abruptly by a uniformed security guard.

So pretentious…even Quatre didn't see the need to take precautions like that.

'This is a private party, sir. I'll need to see your invitation, if you please.'

'I need to see the owner of this house!' Wufei snapped. 'I have not the slightest desire to attend your party.'

'Private party, sir,' the guard repeated. 'Sorry. I'll have to insist that you leave if…'

'I insist on seeing the person who owns this house. Now! Or I'm calling the police about noise pollution.'

'Is there a problem?' The two men stopped glaring at each other for long enough to look at the newcomer. In Wufei's opinion, he looked exactly the type who would never consider the feelings of his neighbours. Ridiculously long hair in a braid, tight jeans and a scrap of black material that probably dared to call itself a shirt.

'Mr. Maxwell, he doesn't have an invitation,' the guard protested.

'Chill, Otto,' the young man drawled, pushing the door open. 'A guy who looks like this doesn't need to be invited to one of Zechs' parties! Well, come on. Aren't you coming in?'

He looked at Wufei with an oddly charming smile. 'I'm Duo. Sorry about that. Otto tends to be a bit over-zealous, and we've had reporters trying to sneak into the house all week.' He made a face. 'Zechs' little sister just got engaged to a Spanish count, and all the girly gossip mags are trying to get photos of them together.'

'How did you know I wasn't a reporter?'

Duo laughed. 'They try to sneak in pretending to be tradesmen and stuff. You stormed up our drive like a one-man cavalry charge. I saw you on one of our security cameras. Now, what's the big deal about you needing to see Zechs?'

'I'm here to complain about the noise level.' He'd meant to make his complaint rather more vehement, but it was difficult, faced with Duo's open friendliness. 'I'm staying next door and I am trying to work but…'

'Oh, _shit_! You're Trowa's friend? The writer?' Wufei nodded. 'Quat told us you were coming but he must have got the dates wrong. He said you'd be here tomorrow, and Zechs was planning to meet you at the airport.'

'I took an earlier flight.'

'Look, I'm really sorry about all this. I'll go and get the music turned down a bit, and Zechs will want to meet you and apologise. We promised Quat we'd keep an eye on you while you were here.'

'That's quite unnecessary,' Wufei said, bridling a little at the implication that he needed someone to _… keep an eye on him_. Typical Quatre, though. 'And I need to get back. I have work to do.'

'But you only just got here today! Why don't you at least come up and have a drink? Please?' Duo cast him a meltingly appealing look, oddly reminiscent of Quatre at his most persuasive.

'Duo? Is everything all right?'

The man was tall, blond hair; oddly familiar from somewhere. Deep voice with a slight foreign accent.

'Zechs, this is the guy Tro and Quat told us about. He got here early and he's already had to come over to complain about us making all this noise. Quatre's going to kill us.'

'Wufei, isn't it?' Wufei's hand was taken in a warm, firm clasp. 'I'm Milliardo Peacecraft - my friends call me Zechs - and I'm so very sorry we disturbed you. We had no idea there was anyone next door. I'll have the music turned down immediately. How can I make it up to you?'

'That won't be necessary,' Wufei thrust his hand into one pocket, not quite sure what else to do with it. He could still feel the press of those long fingers against his skin. He had the absurd impression that he would be able to see the imprints where they had touched him. 'I need to go.'

The walk back home was taken at a more leisurely pace. Milliardo Peacecraft, that was who the man was. Quatre had spoken about him, although Wufei had paid very little attention. He was staying at the villa to work, not to socialise.

He knew about the Peacecrafts, naturally; he'd seen their pictures plastered across magazines at the supermarket check-out. The family had ruled a tiny European principality for centuries; Sanque was now a democracy, absorbed into the European Union, but the Peacecrafts still held the titles, even if the power and palaces were long gone.

Milliardo had made a career for himself as a landscape designer who numbered celebrities among his clients, people who were probably more impressed by the title than his talents. His sister - Wufei couldn't remember her name - held some sort of minor diplomatic post at an embassy.

It was unimportant. He was here to work. Nothing more.

It was midnight by the time he finally settled down at his computer, and his powers of concentration, cultivated since childhood, failed him for once. It had been a long day; he was probably suffering from jet-lag and the loss of the routine that he'd kept for years.

It had nothing to do with a tall, blond man, and the press of his hand. Nothing.

Still, it might not hurt to take a shower and then spend some time in meditation.

Milliardo Peacecraft _- Zechs, my friends call me Zechs _- would take baths no doubt; long, leisurely affairs with champagne and a companion.

He and Duo were a couple, of course. He'd missed the signs earlier, but it was obvious when he thought about it. Duo had said _we_ and _us_; he'd given orders to the security guard and invited Wufei inside.

He turned the shower to its coldest setting and let the icy spray wash the feel of that man's hand. He would get up at six - as usual - and begin work.

It didn't happen. He overslept, haunted by strange, half-remembered dreams, and nothing in the well-stocked kitchen seemed appealing, even though Trowa or Quatre had obviously given someone a list of what foods he liked.

Instead, he took up the reams of notes Quatre had left for him, detailing everything from instructions on cleaning the pool to restaurants he and Trowa liked - and followed the directions to a small bakery.

_Follow the line of cypress trees from the beach along the sand track and cross the bridge…._

The little shop was rich with warm, sweet, yeasty smells; somehow familiar although Wufei couldn't imagine how. All the women in his family were focussed on their careers; bread would only ever be baked as part of a scientific experiment on the properties of yeast.

He bought a loaf and two croissants and ate one on the way home, enjoying the flaky leaves of pastry and scattering crumbs for a hopeful crowd of sparrows.

He ate the second croissant, smeared with butter, on the terrace, planning his day. He needed to make a schedule, that was the thing.

After years of conforming to academic timetables, he needed to impose his own rules. This sabbatical wasn't a holiday; it was a one-off opportunity to spend time on his writing, away from the demands of teaching. The university had agreed to his taking the sabbatical; it always looked good when a member of their staff was published.

So. He would start work every morning at….no, it couldn't be ten, already. Surely not. It was.

Well, it was his first day. A little slackness was permissible on the first day. He still had several hours before lunch to work. Even if he didn't feel inspired, he could still read over the finished chapters. He could take his laptop on to the terrace and work there.

Damnation.

He'd read one particular paragraph five times and only on the final reading had he noticed a comma incorrectly placed. A tiny mistake, and one he or his editor would have picked up on, but he almost never made such errors. And never failed to notice them.

It was hard to concentrate here. There were swallows swooping overhead, and sparrows chirping, and unknown insects buzzing about the flowery garden. He didn't know the names of the flowers either; he'd have to find a book. And the pool looked so terribly tempting.

He would swim one hundred brisk lengths and then take a cold shower, another cold shower, and then get down to work. He hadn't bothered to pack swimming trunks, but his black briefs would suffice. It wasn't as if there was anyone to see.

He managed to swim perhaps a dozen before the distractions set in. Wufei had never swum in an outdoor pool, nor one which didn't smell and taste of chlorine. He was soon fascinated by the little ripples caused by the slight sea breeze, by the bright gleam of sunlight on water.

The swallows darting overhead and occasionally swooping low to catch insects reflected this blueness in their white breast feathers.

Wufei had studied the blue and white porcelain of the Chinese Imperial dynasties; he could date a piece by the shade of blue, but he'd never really paid any attention to the colour in nature.

Blue….

Peacecraft's eyes had been blue; a shade that not even those long ago Chinese artists had managed to replicate.

No, he wasn't going to think about that.

No.

It was ridiculous to be so affected by a stranger. It was just that he'd been tired and confused about all the sudden changes in his life. That was all.

Milliardo - _call me Zechs _- had a partner. He wouldn't be interested in someone like Wufei. And Wufei had a neatly ordered life based around work.

It was a good life; he loved his job, he loved teaching and writing and exploring the past. He had good friends, even if he didn't see Trowa so often now that the other man tended to travel with Quatre when he was free, and and Sally had accepted a position at a hospital in New York, but they were still there if he needed them.

There had been a few relationships but they'd never lasted too long. The longest had been with Trowa; he'd been devastated when the other man had told him gently that he wanted to break up, that he needed something more. He hadn't understood , then, what Trowa meant. He and Trowa were so compatible, with common interests and similar personalities.

The truth was, they probably were better off as just friends, even if Wufei had sometimes nurtured the hope that they might get back together, one day, once Trowa realised he was looking for something that didn't exist, not outside fairy tales and old black and white romances. Then Trowa had met Quatre and that had been that.

It had probably been the start of his restlessness, somehow, seeing those two together. The start of realising there were other possibilities in life. So he'd shocked his family and surprised his friends by taking a year's leave from his job, the perfect job he'd spent his whole life aiming for, and letting giving his apartment keys to a visiting professor from New Zealand, and buying a ticket to Spain.

Spain had been Trowa's idea; he'd grown up there, he loved the country, and he and Quatre had offered Wufei the use of a beach front villa for as long as he liked, for a nominal rent.

This was his life now, for the next few months at any rate.

Wufei turned over on his back, watching will o' the wisp clouds chase each other across a blazingly blue sky.

More blue…

Zechs' eyes had been a darker shade, he thought, although it had been hard to tell under artificial light.

'Wufei?'

For one stunned moment, Wufei thought he'd actually conjured the man up out of his imagination and his desire. But he was real, standing by the pool side. Casual today; denim shorts and a grey t-shirt and all that hair in a loose ponytail. He'd been standing there for how long? Watching him?

'What the hell are you doing here? This is private property! You're trespassing!'

'I'm sorry.' He didn't look particularly repentant though, that lush, lovely mouth quirking into a smile. 'All I seem to do is apologise to you.' He slid down to the ground, dangling those long, bare legs in the water. Wufei suppressed a desire to swim to the bottom of the pool and never come back up.

'I've been trying to call the house and no one answered. I thought I'd just drop by and see if you needed anything; Quatre and I have each other's security codes and I'm afraid we rather treat our homes as common property.'

'I don't need anything.' He might, Wufei thought, have been able to achieve a little more dignity if he hadn't been practically naked. And Zechs had seen him floating on his back and gazing at the clouds. 'I appreciate your concern but it is quite unnecessary.'

There. Was that enough of a dismissal?

'Wufei, I'm sorry if I disturbed you.' Another little smile. 'Do you think we could perhaps start this conversation again? Even if you weren't the guest of a close friend, it would be churlish of me not to make a new neighbour welcome. Particularly such an attractive one.'

Attractive…Wufei found he was blushing, ridiculously. He wasn't a schoolgirl. But Zechs was, well, attractive himself, and it had been so long since anyone looked at him like that. And the man was flirting with him.

'I was hoping you would come to lunch this afternoon? We are going to be neighbours for several months, I understand. We should get to know each other a little better, don't you think?'

'Duo won't mind you inviting me?' He meant it to sting; a reminder that Zechs had a perfectly good boyfriend of his own.

Instead, Zechs looked confused. 'Why would he mind?' Then he threw his head back and laughed. 'No, I promise you, Duo will be delighted to see you again. And his over- possessive partner, who happens to be my closest friend, would love to meet you. He's a great admirer of your books. So am I, actually.'

'Oh!' The blush was deepening; Wufei could feel it. The water was probably going to start boiling at any minute. 'In that case, then, yes. I would be delighted to accept.'

'Excellent. Now, are you going to come out of the water, or am I going to have to join you?'

It was utterly rude of him not to get out, to greet his guest properly. The problem was that his underwear, chosen for its natural fabric and breathable properties, was far too constricting. There was a tiny chance that it had shrunk in the water, and that the sudden feeling of tightness wasn't directly due to the handsome man who was casually lounging in front of him.

He couldn't get out of the water like that.

On the other hand, Zechs would have to strip off to swim, and Wufei wasn't sure if his precious, painstakingly-acquired self control would be able to deal with that.

'I'm coming out,' he decided abruptly. 'Perhaps you could hand me my towel?'

That was the best solution. He could attain a little more dignity if he was at least partially clothed, if one significant part of his anatomy was covered at least.

Ignoring the other man's outstretched hand, he pulled himself out, and reached for the towel.

Instead, Zechs moved closer, settling the towel around Wufei's hips himself, tucking one corner of the fabric under itself to secure it and in the process, brushing his fingers against bare, damp skin. Just the briefest of casual touches, but it sent a jolt of desire, almost painfully intense, through Wufei. It was so long since someone had touched him like that….and Zechs' hand was still resting lightly on the curve of his hip.

'Do I have to apologise for this also?' His eyes, glinting with amusement and glowing with reflected sunlight, were mesmerising. Those ancient Chinese potters had probably never even imagined such a shade. A sorrow for them.

'No.' It was the truth; he couldn't have lied, not with Zechs looking at him like that.

That mouth curved into a sinfully delicious smile; he'd been jst a little nervous before asking the question, Wufei realised suddenly. Not entirely sure of how the other man would answer.

'You look different with your hair down.' One hand reached up to brush a strand away from his face; he hadn't even noticed it was loose. His hair elastic must have loosened and fallen off in the water. 'Wufei, why did you run off last night?'

'I - I left,' Wufei informed him, choosing his words carefully. He hadn't _run off; _that was something a child might do. He had left to attend to his work. There had been no running. 'I told you I had work to do. I have publisher's deadlines; it's not like I'm here on holiday, to enjoy myself.'

Ah. That was a lie. He'd been enjoying every second of this unexpected day. Waking up to a bright blue sky instead of grey clouds, the short walk with the sun warm on his skin, the feel of the cool water. And he was very definitely enjoying the attentions of this man.

'What, no fun at all? That sounds rather dull.' One hand was still resting lightly on Wufei's hip; the other had moved to cup his chin, those long fingers stroking his jaw line.

Wufei wasn't sure which of them moved closer first, but he was suddenly standing in the circle of other man's arms, and the towel had somehow slipped free. Zechs obviously hadn't secured it very efficiently.

Those blue eyes, watching him, were dancing; captivating. Wufei normally detested being laughed at; if Zechs continued to look at him like that, he could find the sensation bearable.

'It is your first day here,' the tall man coaxed. 'I think you could indulge yourself a little. I've been wanting to kiss you ever since I saw you last night, you know. Wufei, may I? Please?'

Finis.


	2. Chapter 2

Ye Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, I make no financial profit from this.

Note: ah, yes. This was originally written as a one-shot. Apparently not. Many thanks to KS for doing the beta stuff, and to everyone who liked the first chapter.

**Chapter Two:**

'It is your first day here,' the tall man coaxed. 'I think you could indulge yourself a little. I've been wanting to kiss you ever since I saw you last night, you know. Wufei, may I? Please?'

It wasn't a dream, Wufei realised, surreptitiously pinching his thigh. It was really happening.

It was impossible.

Things like this simply did not happen to people like him.

Men like Zechs didn't romance shy, bookish university lecturers.

Zechs was silent, watching him with a smile in those mesmerising eyes, and that one hand was still warm on his hip.

Oh, dear gods, he was all but naked, Wufei realised suddenly, making a sudden grab for the towel that lay at his feet.

Zechs might find it normal, acceptable to kiss total strangers; Chang Wufei did not.

The opportunity had never arisen.

Did Zechs truly think that he was so …. easy? Or perhaps it was all some master-plan of Quatre's, who had a penchant for matchmaking? Duo, last night, had mentioned that Quatre had asked them to _keep an eye _on him. Wufei still hadn't had time to feel offended about that. Was all this flirting - whatever it was - due to some suggestion that Quatre had made?

'Excuse me, please.' It came out stiffly, as Wufei draped the towel around his hips, and Zechs dropped his hand at once. Irrationally, Wufei missed that slight, warm contact.

Ridiculous.

He felt better with the large towel wrapped around him though. More in control. And the wants of that part of his body that he hadn't been able to control were no longer visible.

'Wufei?' Zechs said softly, those blue eyes intent on him. 'I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend you in any way.'

He swallowed. 'You didn't. I, ah…' Floundering for something, anything, to say Wufei sought refuge in hospitality. Zechs was a guest, albeit an uninvited one, and he, as host, was behaving most discourteously. 'Can I get you something? A drink?'

'That would be lovely.'

_Oh, shit. _

_Why, _exactly_, _had he said that? Wufei agonised as he headed back inside.

Now, he had no chance of getting even a moment's work done. And he'd already agreed to go to Zechs' home for lunch.

_Why? _

This would be a whole day wasted. Another day.

Wufei laid his forehead against the cool kitchen tiles, willing his mind, his carefully disciplined mind, to take over for just one hour, and for his body to stop reacting to the other man. It was natural enough, he supposed. It was so long - too long - since he'd been with anybody, and Zechs was very attractive.

He'd said Wufei was attractive too, but that didn't really mean anything.

Someone like that was probably so used to flirting that they did it automatically. It would be utter foolishness to read anything into what had no doubt been a throw away comment.

Damnation.

He should never have accepted that lunch invitation; it was too late to back out now without being rude. He wasn't sure why he'd even agreed in the first place. He'd been refusing most social engagements lately, wrapped up in his books and his research.

He should have refused Zechs; should have made it totally clear that he wasn't here to socialise. He had a job to do.

But there had been that bizarre little spurt of relief that Duo and Zechs weren't, in fact, a couple, and then Zechs had told him that he admired his books, and he had looked…admiring as he said it.

Very admiring, actually.

People tended not to look at Chang Wufei like that.

Oh, damnation.

Wufei murmured it softly, then banged his head, none too gently, against the wall. Perhaps that would knock some sense into his brain.

_What is happening to me?_

He'd almost let Zechs kiss him. He'd wanted it. Wanted more than just kisses, if he were totally honest with himself. Those few seconds, with Zechs' arms around him, his body pressed close, and the other man's breath warm on his skin, had been more intimate than anything he'd ever experienced in his life.

And for all he could blame lingering tiredness, and the difficulty of adjusting to such a new lifestyle, and his own body's natural reaction to the proximity of such a handsome man, there had been something else there too. Zechs' eyes shining into his, and those fingers touching his skin…..

Oh, he'd wanted more. So very much more.

Ridiculous. Quite.

The person he was, the person he'd spent his whole life becoming, did not do things like that. Chang Wufei did not let total strangers, however handsome and charming, kiss him.

Or touch him, or press him into a sun-lounger and press into him.

_No. _

No matter how badly he wanted it, he didn't do that sort of thing.

Adjusting the towel, _again_, and taking a succession of deep breaths, he poured two tall glasses of orange juice and went back out to the terrace.

Zechs looked utterly, perfectly at home, sprawled lazily back in one of Quatre's lounge chairs, and smiled his thanks as Wufei handed him a glass. Of course he felt at home; he'd said that he was a frequent visitor. This was probably a perfectly normal way for him to spend a morning; lounging around in the sun and sipping cool drinks.

It was…surprisingly pleasant, actually, just to sit and watch the darting swallows, little blurs of movement against the deep blue of the sky. There were butterflies too, flitting from flower to flower. He never noticed things like that at home, rushing around with his mind on his next lecture, or an essay he was marking.

It was very pleasant.

It didn't hurt that he had Zechs beside him, close enough to touch if he just reached out one hand. Naturally, he didn't, although part of him wished that Zechs would touch him again, or even flirt a little.

So stupid of him. Of course, Zechs wasn't going to do anything of the sort. Not after the way Wufei had behaved. Well, there obviously wasn't going to be any kissing now, not with Zechs politely asking him about his flight the previous day, and commenting on his last book.

Wufei had finally learned the art of making small talk at faculty parties and book signings. He hated it. Zechs, of course, could do it charmingly, asking about the new book, and offering his help if needed.

'What made you decide to come to Spain?' he asked, and Wufei tore his gaze away from the way Zechs' throat muscles worked when he swallowed, and tried to frame some sort of coherent answer.

The answer was that he hadn't made the decision at all. He'd never meant to leave the university; he had his own apartment on campus, close to the library and he'd seen no reason to uproot his whole life. Taking a sabbatical was more than enough of a change. He didn't need to relocate as well.

That had been before he'd received the letter from the university administration, stating that faculty housing was only available to staff who were currently teaching there. Due to the current accommodation shortages, his apartment was needed for his replacement.

He'd almost reconsidered the whole exercise at that point and then he'd mentioned it to Trowa and Quatre had overheard, and immediately placed the villa at his disposal. Wufei had accepted the offer without thinking too much about it. Trowa said the place was quiet, and had internet access, and that there was plenty of space for his books.

He hadn't really thought too much about anything else. Quatre had emailed photographs of the house, and Trowa had sent long messages about how beautiful the place was, but he hadn't been terribly interested. It was just a house, after all.

Zechs, once he'd explained all that, looked rather nonplussed.

'Well, I'm glad you're here, anyway. It's a beautiful place. After lunch, if you like, we can walk down to the harbour. It's only a few minutes. Duo keeps his boat there; if you like sailing, he'll be happy to take you out sometime. There are several pods of dolphins in the bay; we see them most days. And there's a wonderful stretch of beach that goes on for miles. I usually walk there in the evenings, if you'd like to join me sometime?'

'I'm sure it's quite lovely, but I don't have the time to be a tourist,' Wufei said resolutely, repressing an absurd image of himself and Zechs, walking hand in hand on a beach. At sunset.

What in the world was making his brain react to this place, this man, by producing a succession of the most absurd romantic clichés? It would be…pleasant, though, to walk barefoot on sand. He'd arrived the previous evening just as the sun was sinking. He'd actually taken a few moments away from his unpacking to stand by the bedroom window and admire the sky, painted vividly with rich strokes of plum and gold.

'With the best will in the world, you can't work twenty four hours a day,' Zechs argued, smiling at him. A terribly unsettling thing that smile. It invited Wufei to share the joke, to enter into the humour of it all. As if the two of them shared something that the rest of the world didn't, and he could feel his mouth, operating quite without instructions, quirk into a smile of its own. A little agreement that _of course_ what he'd said had been absurd, and that he'd be far better off abandoning his life's work to spend time with someone he'd just met.

He'd hated the stilted small talk, mourning that lost little bit of intimacy, but now they were suddenly on the verge of recapturing it and that was scary.

Far better to stick to the polite nothings, and hope that Zechs would finish his drink and leave. He was taking his time though, measuring it out in small sips.

'I have a deadline from my publisher to meet,' Wufei said finally, a last ditch attempt to cling to his so-carefully made plans. He'd never been sailing. He'd never seen a dolphin, except on an educational trip to an aquarium when he was a child.

He'd never held hands with someone while walking on a beach.

Damn. No wonder Trowa hadn't stayed with him. No wonder he'd wanted someone warm and impulsive and affectionate.

'Ah, the deadline again.' Zechs' eyes gleamed. 'When precisely is it, this precious deadline of yours?'

'The end of August. And I'm only on the third draft.'

'You do realise that's almost four months away?' Zechs lifted one eyebrow at him. 'Don't you think you're allowed to have a little fun on holiday?'

'I'm _not _on holiday!' Wufei snapped, annihilating the tiny, tempting voice in his mind that suggested the possibility that Zechs was right. After all, he wasn't exactly working at the moment; stretched out under a brilliantly blue sky in the company of the most handsome man he'd ever seen. Who apparently wanted to spend time with him, for some reason.

Ever since he was very young, his life had been run according to plans and timetables; bulwarks against an uncertain world. As a prodigiously clever child born into a family of compulsively high achievers, he'd grown up with every minute of every day ruthlessly and rigorously planned out for him.

He didn't really know how to live with that safety net of tight schedules.

'What are you proposing anyway? That we have some sort of fling?' It came out more savage than he'd intended. If he made it sound insulting enough, Zechs might leave him alone.

He'd never flung in his entire life, and had no intention of starting. He had a book to finish, and no time for relationships.

End of story.

Zechs just chuckled at him, apparently immune to Wufei's glare. 'Actually, you're the one who's making that particular proposal, not me.'

_Damn._

He was perfectly right. He couldn't believe he'd actually said that; actually propositioned another man in broad daylight. And Zechs apparently thought it was all a joke. Setting his glass carefully aside, he stood and stalked off to the terrace, gazing into the pool.

It was all the blasted pool's fault. All of it. If he hadn't been tempted to go swimming, none of this could have happened. Zechs would have found him at work, fully clothed and deep in concentration. He wouldn't have been half-naked and indulging in fanciful daydreams.

'Wufei?' Zechs voice was soft; the other man had to be standing right behind him, even though Wufei hadn't heard him approach. 'What's the matter?'

'Nothing.' He reached up and brushed a strand of hair back from his face. He'd forgotten to tie it back again. For his whole life, it had been second nature to keep his hair pulled back, and now he'd been sitting with it drifting free and he hadn't even noticed.

Zechs had said he looked different with it down.

_What is happening to me?_

'Wufei?' It was just a breath in his ear, because Zechs was standing close enough for him to feel the other man's body. 'I'm sorry. I never meant to offend you.'

'It's not you,' Wufei managed. 'I'm just …it's nothing.'

'Would you like me to go?'

'No.' Wufei leaned a little farther back, just enough to feel Zechs' chest against his back. 'Please.'

Oh, that was just wonderful. Bad enough to fall apart in front of a total stranger, but then to practically beg that person to stay and witness it. It was purest folly to expect Zechs to stay with him after such a show of weakness; he'd never allowed himself to ask that much of Trowa, and Trowa was the person he'd felt closest to in the universe. But he really, really didn't want to be alone.

Not now, when he suddenly felt his whole carefully-constructed, elaborately-ordered world shifting under his feet.

He'd been raised to cope with personal crises by meditation and reflection, not by running to other people for help. But he'd precipitated this particular crisis himself, running away from his career and his home and his _life _to this new country where he knew no one, and wasn't sure quite how to deal with any of it.

'It's OK,' Zechs soothed, wrapping both arms around Wufei's waist. It felt unbelievably good. He was just a little taller than Trowa; tall enough that Wufei fit against him perfectly. Like they belonged together.

_Just breathe, Chang, _Wufei thought. He'd spent years perfecting the discipline; it couldn't possibly fail him now, not when he badly needed to find some sort of focus.

'Talk to me,' his guest invited. 'You're an intelligent person; I'm sure you can breathe and talk at the same time.' There was a little shiver of laughter in his voice, and Wufei felt a little chuckle escape his own lips. It was there again; that little connection of shared humour.

Wufei just sighed, letting himself relax in the other man's arms. Breathing, suddenly, seemed an irrelevance. He wanted this.

'I thought you said I was attractive,' he blurted, and then immediately wanted to bite his tongue out. He must be sounding like a petulant teenager.

'I did, didn't I?' Zechs sounded faintly amused and Wufei stiffened against him. Was this really all a joke to him?

'I'm just teasing, Wufei,' Zechs pressed a kiss to the top of his head. 'You are very, very attractive. And you have the loveliest hair. And a very beautiful mouth. I meant what I said earlier, you know. I've been wanting to kiss you since the first moment I saw you talking to Duo. I still do, actually. Very much.'

He was kissing Wufei in between words, his lips gently drifting across Wufei's hair, the back of his neck.

'I don't do …one night stands,' Wufei said uncertainly.

'I'm glad to hear it. Neither do I, as it happens. And I have absolutely no intention of letting you go after one night. I'm not that much of an idiot.'

Chang Wufei wasn't an idiot either; very far from it, in fact. He was a highly intelligent young man whose whole life had been devoted to cultivating that particular quality. He wasn't quite idiotic enough to destroy this wonderful, out of the blue, opportunity. Even if it terrified the life out of him.

For once in his life, he was going to do something spontaneous and impulsive and utterly reckless. Something that none of his friends would believe. But he had already made the decision to change his life, and maybe this was a part of it.

He turned in Zechs' embrace, in the warm shelter of those muscular arms, and looked up. Those eyes, with the sun shining in them, were breathtaking. Not just the colour, that unique shade of blue, but the sheer breadth of affection and desire.

No one had ever looked at him like that.

Swallowing, forgetting to breathe, Wufei moistened his lips nervously. He was actually going to do this. He _was_.

'I've been wanting to kiss you ever since I saw you last night, you know. Zechs, may I? Please?'


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. Sad but true.

Warning: 1x2 lemony stuff. Lots of sap and a wee bit of angst.

Note: This is for Dyna, who wanted to know more about Duo and his possessive boyfriend, in appreciation for all of her wonderful stories….thanks to KS for the editing and the ending.

**Chapter Three:**

As usual, there was a small cluster of tourists on the dock, taking pictures of _Peacemillion_. Hardly surprising; she stood out from the luxury cruisers and launches almost as much as her owner stood out in a crowd.

Heero had learned to live with it, even if he didn't like it much. Duo's ship was his livelihood, as well as being their home. Attracting tourists was good for business.

Once no one tried to photograph him, he could put up with it. Usually. He could even smile faintly at two little boys' excitement at seeing the cool 'pirate ship'.

Of course, some of the older tourists weren't just gazing at the ship, and that was unacceptable.

Duo Maxwell, in frayed denim shorts and nothing else, was very definitely a thing of beauty and a joy for ever. The long, heavy braid, sparked with tawny gold in the bright sunlight, hung down his back, pointing the way to Heero's personal paradise on Earth. He was perfection incarnate.

The problem was that Heero wasn't the only person who thought so.

His lover's penchant for skimpy clothing was something of a mixed blessing. Heero got to see Duo in a state of near nudity on a regular basis; unfortunately, the rest of the world did too.

Duo, being Duo, was sublimely oblivious to the fact that he had something of an audience, leaning over the rail and gazing out to sea. Quite sublimely oblivious to the fact that one of his admirers was actually preparing to cross the gangplank.

_Oh no, you don't. _

'I wouldn't if I were you. He's belongs to me,' Heero growled, making his voice low and predatory, and had the satisfaction of seeing the man take a step back. And another step.

_Go and find someone else to drool over._

Really, life would be so much simpler if he could just shoot anyone who dared to ogle Duo.

The poor guy hadn't a hope of finding anyone remotely comparable, of course. Heero allowed himself a brief moment of sympathy. Duo Maxwell was utterly unique.

And his.

He'd have been furious if he'd overheard Heero going all possessive and over-protective; and doubly so at the _belonging_ comment. Heero loved the idea of belonging to someone, and deep down, he knew Duo did too. It just scared him.

Of course, he was more than capable of brushing off unwanted suitors. He just shouldn't have to. Especially not today. He was actually still for once in his life, shoulders slumped and braid drooping.

Brushing through the rest of the crowd, Heero whistled and Duo swirled around.

Duo' s face lit up. 'You're early! I thought you weren't getting in 'til tonight, I was going to collect you and…'

'I skipped this morning's lectures.' Ignoring the audience, Heero took his partner's hand, leading him below to privacy.

'Ow, I bet Une loved that.'

'Not noticeably,' Heero commented dryly. It didn't matter what his boss thought. It only mattered that Duo had needed him. 'I'm here.'

Duo, safe in his arms, drew a deep, steadying breath. 'I didn't mean for you to miss work. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been all whiny on the 'phone when you rang.'

'You weren't whiny, love. You were upset. And of course I came home.'

'I miss him, 'Ro. Still.'

'I know.' Heero murmured it against Duo's hair, silken and sun warmed. 'I know you do.' He didn't bother trotting out all the platitudes about how Howard had lived a full, active life, that he'd loved every second of it. Duo didn't need to hear all that. 'What can I do, Duo? How can I help?'

'Take me to bed and screw me 'til I scream for mercy?' Duo suggested, ducking out of Heero's arms and heading for the bed.

Heero was only a step or two behind, but Duo somehow had time to shed the shorts and stretch out on the mattress, naked except for the cross and the tattoos. And the shining glory of his hair.

His eyes were enormous as he watched Heero strip. God, he was unbelievable. They'd been together for over three years, and his beauty still made Heero's heart leap. Along with other parts of him, naturally.

Daytime sex on the boat tended to be fast and uncomplicated. Someone invariably dropped by, or one of their 'phones would ring. Candlelight and creativity were for darkness, or deserted beaches.

Not this time, Heero resolved. Duo needed more than just physical release from him.

Prepping him – properly, according to Heero's standards – was an exercise in sheer self-control. Duo wasn't terribly patient at the best of times, and he was desperate for that connection of flesh.

And it wasn't easy to be controlled or patient with the most beautiful man in the entire universe bucking underneath him, and thrusting against his fingers. It wasn't easy at all.

'Mercy,' Duo whimpered, in between gasps and pants when Heero finally arched into him. ''Ro, please.'

'You have to scream it,' Heero grinned wickedly, 'or it doesn't count.'

Duo, in answer, screamed something that wasn't overly coherent, and sounded vaguely like a threat. That would do. Down to business.

Duo wrapped those endless legs around his waist, stretching himself wider and gasping as Heero thrust deeper.

It didn't take long after that; Heero usually had better stamina but they'd been apart for three days. Duo wasn't helping matters, either, meeting each of Heero's thrusts with moans and screams and the incredible, tight warmth of his own body.

After, Duo just slumped against him, while Heero vaguely thought about cleaning them both up.

'How'd I ever end up with such a damned sadist?' Duo muttered, letting Heero tuck him against his side.

'Just lucky?' Heero suggested whimsically and snickered at Duo's little snort. His face had lost that awful strained look he'd been wearing earlier. He thought too much; sometimes he needed someone to make him _stop_ thinking. Hero had become something of an expert at that over the past few years.

He kissed the top of Duo's head, and one finger reached out to trace the tattooed band on his right bicep. Strangers always assumed it was some sort of Celtic pattern, but it was actually six interlocking black crosses. One for each of the people Duo had lost in his life.

Duo shivered. 'Don't ever leave, 'Ro. OK? I just couldn't stand that.'

'You know I'll never leave you. Never.'

'Make sure you don't,' Duo muttered.

'I love you. You know that.' Heero bent and touched his lips to the newest cross. It was exactly two years since Duo had had that one done; it was starkly vivid against his skin in comparison to the older ones. It was the only one Heero had witnessed being done; the morning of Howard's funeral.

He hadn't cried 'til late that night, wrapped in Heero's arms and his warmth and his love.

'I wish people didn't have to die,' he said forlornly. 'I wish you two'd had a chance to know each other better. I mean, he was the closest thing I've ever had to some sort of father, and you never really got to be friends. Not properly.'

'Maybe we didn't know each other that well, but we did meet a few times. He knew I'd always want to be with you.'

Duo just gave him a sad little smile. 'He always did think you were good for me. Even when we were fighting and I used to run off and stay with him, he'd always try to make me see your side of things. He used to say that even when I was spitting mad with you, I'd still get this look on my face when I talked about you. And that I was way too smart to give up on you just because we'd had some stupid row. He thought you were the only person in the damn universe who was as stubborn as me. And he liked the way you always used to turn up and drag me home.'

'I used to quite like that bit too,' Heero admitted. They still had rows; of course they did. They were two passionate, stubborn, opinionated people. Nowadays, they tended to resolve arguments a little more easily though. Mostly.

'Love you,' Duo whispered. ' So damned much.'

'Love you too. I'm sorry I wasn't here for you yesterday.'

'Not your fault. Don't worry; I was OK; it wasn't like I was here by myself. Zechs made me go to that party last night, and I stayed the night with him.'

'Hmm. Would you mind rephrasing that last sentence? So I don't have to go and kill my best friend?'

'Yes, dear.' Duo rolled his eyes. 'I stayed the night in Zechs' house. In a separate bed. In a separate room. On a different floor. With my chastity belt on. Is that acceptable?'

'Barely.' Heero twisted his fingers around one long skein of chestnut hair, loving the feel of it against his skin. 'How was the party anyway?'

'Boring. All of 'Lena's diplomatic pals were there; I never know what to say to those people. It finished up pretty early though, and we…oh, God! You'll never guess what happened!'

'Probably not,' Heero conceded. He was in a warm, soft bed with his lover snuggled against him. They'd just had very energetic sex and he'd had a long flight before that. The thought of a little nap was much more appealing than playing guessing games.

'That writer guy turned up. I thought he was going to be some ancient professor or something, and he's probably not much older than me.'

'I think he's around twenty seven, the same as me. His books have a little bio at the back. Anyway, you know he's Trowa's ex. He couldn't be that old.'

Duo poked him in the side. 'I don't know Tro all that well; he could just have a thing for older guys. Like I do.'

'You're only a couple of years younger than me, Maxwell. That hardly makes you my toyboy.'

'No? Shame. I kind of like the idea of being your toyboy.' He wriggled across Heero's chest and cuddled under his chin. 'Do those books happen to have photos as well? How come you never told me that he was a total hottie?'

Heero lifted the long hank of hair to his mouth and kissed it. 'You know perfectly well I never notice anyone's looks but yours.'

'Oh, _right_ answer,' Duo purred happily, squirming around to look up at him.

'Unlike you, apparently,' Heero reached out and pinched his ass, making him squeak. 'I go away for three days, and you're already drooling over random Chinese guys.'

'Oy! I think that part of my anatomy has had more than enough abuse already this morning.'

'I'm not so sure about that.' Heero stroked the curve of that perfect, perfect ass, making his lover moan.

'Oooh, that's nice.'

'Is it?' Heero's fingers dipped a little deeper, exploring.

'Don't push your luck, Yuy. Either I'm docking the boat next time 'round, or I won't be able to walk for a week.'

'And why exactly is that a problem for me? If you couldn't walk, you'd have to stay here in bed. I rather like the idea of that.'

'I bet you do.' Duo wriggled away a little, muttering something about insatiable sex maniacs. 'Anyway, it's not me you have to worry about drooling over Wufei. Zechs took one look at him and wham! What's that expression Quat uses for falling in love at first sight? The French one?'

'A _coup de foudre_? It means a lightning strike.'

'Yeah. God, Yuy, you're sexy when you speak French, you know that? Seriously, Zechsy looked like he'd, well, been hit by lightning. I guess. You know how he always does this ice prince act with strangers? Well, he was practically falling all over Wufei. '

'I thought he wasn't arriving until today.' Heero tried to imagine his supremely detached friend falling all over anybody, and failed miserably. Duo was probably exaggerating. 'I talked to Zechs yesterday afternoon, and he was planning to pick him up from the airport after lunch.'

Duo laughed. 'Oh, he's planning to pick him up all right. No, he took an early flight, and we were having this loud party, and he stormed over to complain about the noise levels. Man, talk about chemistry between the two of them! I've never seen Zechs look at someone like that.'

'And what did Wufei do?'

'It was pretty funny; he was being all pissy about us making noise when he was trying to work or something; then Zechs turned up and he just crumbled. He tried to play it all cool, but it obvious he really liked him, you know? I mean, when they shook hands, I could almost see the sparks. And poor Wufei turned tail and ran as soon as he decently could. Some excuse about having to work. At midnight!'

'Well, then, maybe he's not interested in Zechs,' Heero said stubbornly.

'Oh, please. Of course, he was! Look, Zechs has to move on sometime, you know.'

'I know.' Heero sighed. 'I _know_, Duo. I just don't want him getting hurt. And I don't think they'd be suitable for each other.'

'You can't say that. You've never even met Wufei!'

'I suppose not. But Quatre said he's really shy, totally wrapped up in his studies and prefers his own company. Does that honestly sound like someone Zechs would go for?'

'Do him good to have a hot blond guy dragging him away from his books and into a nice big bed,' Duo said decisively. 'And do Zechs good to have to pursue someone for a change.' He turned over, pillowing his head on Heero's arm. 'So this wasn't all some grand plan of Quatre's, then? Fixing his boyfriend's ex up with the cute guy next door?'

'Why would Quat want to do anything like that?'

'Oh, I don't know. Maybe he'd like to get the ex cosily fixed up with someone else and get him out of the picture. He and Tro are still friends, right? And Quat's got that little insecurity problem, and maybe he'd rather his lover's hot, single ex boyfriend isn't hanging around all the time? You know I love Quat, but he's a total control freak.'

'No, he's not. And he isn't insecure. He's just very sensitive about reading people. If he thinks Wufei still has a thing for Trowa, maybe he's right.'

Duo raised his eyes skywards. 'Yeah, I know, the whole empathy thing, but duh! Those two broke up over a year ago. If Wufei hasn't got over Trowa by now, then it's about time he did. And I'll bet meeting Zechs last night cleared up any romantic feelings he ever had for his ex. It's not that I blame Quat or anything. Really. God knows I don't think I'd handle it too well if you were still close to some gorgeous ex-partner.'

'I thought I was the possessive one in this couple.'

'Oh, I can do possessive when I want.' Duo managed a very creditable imitation of Heero's 'I'm threatening you' voice. 'I dunno, I just thought it might all have been a set up. Quat's such a little schemer. But maybe you're right; I was talking to him earlier and he never mentioned anything about it. 'Course, maybe that was because I kind of forgot about the whole time difference thing. He wasn't too impressed when he answered his 'phone. Well, I guess he wasn't impressed for about two seconds and then he started apologizing for being five time zones away.'

'That does sound like him.' Heero grinned. 'Always so polite, even when he's woken up in the middle of the night.'

'Oh, he wasn't asleep! You know, Quat's just too cute sometimes. He said he and Tro had been 'playing duets'. I guess that's their new phrase for having sex.'

'Or possibly they were actually playing music?'

'Yeah, right.' Duo propped his chin on both hands. 'I'm sure they were playing a nice little Bach sonata together. In bed. Naked.' His face slowly took on the luminously innocent expression that usually heralded one of his more appalling jokes. 'Maybe you're right. Maybe Quat was playing Trowa's flute for him?'

'That,' Heero told him heavily, 'is dire. Even by your standards.'

'Hey! It was funny! Hilarious, actually. I bet Trowa would think it was funny.'

'No one in the universe would think that.' Heero, knowing that Duo would spend hours debating this if unchecked, rolled his lover over, and fastened his lips to that very sensitive spot on the side of his neck.

Oh, that was nice. The perfect way to shut him up, as well as feeling very, very good. Multitasking at its highest form. Heero's mouth moved slowly southwards, via a little nibble along Duo's jawbone, a little suck at his clavicle, and found a pierced nipple begging for a little amorous attention.

It was irresistible, the feeling of the hot, hard little nub of flesh contrasted against the cool, smooth silver ring. Almost as irresistible as the way Duo was reacting.

'Mmmmph. Oh, Heero, that's so good. Don't stop. Please. Please…'

'You're so demanding, Maxell. I don't know how I put up with you.'

'Just one of life's mysteries, I guess. Oh!' His whole body arched up from the mattress as Heero tweaked the ring between finger and thumb.

'D'you still want to steer this time?'

'Uh, I don't really care any more. But don't stop doing that. God! Oh, _shit_!'

'What? _What_? Did I hurt you? Duo, what's the matter?'

'No! I'm fine…' Duo looked slightly sheepish. 'Sorry. I just saw the clock; I hadn't realised it was so late. I thought we'd go over to Zechs' for lunch. He was going to call over to Quatre's this morning and invite Wufei over.'

'Why did he ask you along?' Heero dipped his head back to his lover's chest; Du0 was usually fairly susceptible to diversionary tactics.

'He didn't, exactly.' Duo smiled up at him, giving him that meltingly adoring look that Heero couldn't resist if his life and the fate of the universe were at stake. 'But I really, really want to watch the two of them together, and it's not like we need an invitation. I mean, we practically live there….'

Reluctantly, Heero let him go. 'If you think they're so perfect for each other, don't you think they should have a little time alone? Without spectators?'

'Are you kidding? You really, truly mean to tell me that you don't want to see Zechsy-boy falling head over heels for someone who may not even be interested? Come on, it'll be fun. Remember all the times he just happened to turn up when we got together. This is pay back!'

'He was just jealous,' Heero muttered. 'Because I saw you first.'

'Yes, dear.' Duo bent over the side of the bed, searching for something to wear and Heero suppressed a groan. Life just wasn't fair sometimes. He had his beloved Duo – naked, warm, smelling deliciously of coconut sunblock and sex – literally within arms' length and the baka wanted to rush off visiting.

'I wish you'd stop saying that. It's like you're humouring me.'

'I'm _indulging_ you. You and your weird fantasy that everyone in the universe is lusting after me,' Duo retorted, and then yelped as he was tackled back on to the tangled sheets.

'If you really want to indulge me, I have a few suggestions. Much as I like the idea of watching Zechs squirm, I'd much rather watch you. Besides, it's only half twelve. They won't be eating this early. It might be fun to walk in on them unexpectedly, don't you think?'

Duo looked tempted by the last suggestion; it would, as Heero had said, be a neat revenge for various occasions in the past. 'Well, I guess I _could_ indulge you a little.' Those gorgeous, kissable lips curved into a wicked little smile. 'Besides, it probably won't take long, not if your earlier performance is anything to go by.'

'That sounds suspiciously like an insult,' Heero growled, pinning Duo's wrists over his head with one hand, and running the other down that smooth chest, with one brief pause to twist his nipple ring.

Duo's breath hitched audibly. 'It's a challenge! Oh, God. Heero!'

Mission accomplished, Heero thought smugly. If Duo wanted to issue challenges, he was more than happy to rise to meet them. In every sense of the word. When he was finished, his lover wouldn't be able to remember his own name, let alone his lunch plans.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: in case anyone out there isn't clear on this, I don't own Gundam Wing.

Note: thanks, as per always to KS for editing, ongoing support, and everything else. Thanks also to everyone who has been kind enough to make my day by commenting.

**Chapter 4:**

The gates to Zechs' villa were closed this morning; he'd given Wufei the security codes before leaving, and told him to let himself in. It seemed presumptuous, though, just to use it. He and Trowa had been together for weeks before swapping alarm codes.

Keying in the four numbers Zechs had given him - 1306 - would be far too forward on such a slight acquaintance. Instead, Wufei raised one finger to press the intercom.

Zechs had offered to wait for him while he showered and changed, but Wufei had made some excuse, needing a little time alone. Zechs was apparently perceptive enough to have picked up on that, since he hadn't pressed the issue.

To be honest, he'd needed more than _a little_ time alone. A week or so would have been barely adequate, to try to sort out the way he was feeling.

He didn't need the complications of a relationship, not at this point. He wasn't sure if he still had feelings for Trowa. He hardly knew Zechs. The man lived in a different country; it could be nothing more than a holiday fling.

He could list all the rational, measured arguments against seeing Zechs until he was blue in the face. He could itemise them in alphabetical order. It still wouldn't change how he felt.

Instead, he'd switched on his laptop, pressed the google toolbar and typed in the other man's name. Research was what any competent historian was best at. He didn't know anything much about Zechs, true, but that didn't mean he couldn't find things out.

He knew Milliardo Peacecraft wasn't exactly a nonentity. The sheer magnitude of sites which mentioned him was still breathtaking. From groups who wanted to restore the Sanque Monarchy to lists of Europe's most eligible bachelors.

Eventually he selected a reputable news site, and scrolled down.

Wufei preferred the past, overall, to the present, but he wasn't totally ignorant. He read the newspaper. He overheard people talking and noticed magazine headlines in shops.

He vaguely knew that Zechs' parents had died in a 'plane crash; he hadn't realized that Zechs had been so young at the time. The photographs showed a young blond boy staring stonily at the cameras, one arm around his sobbing little sister.

The rest of the stories about him were more gossipy; a few features on gardens he'd designed and dates with minor royalty and celebrities and a stunning male model.

_Dear gods, I can't possibly compete with people like that…not ever. _

He, Chang Wufei, who had no real idea how to cope with life outside of a library or his study, was not remotely prepared for this sort of lifestyle.

Zechs had kissed him, though, and if he closed his eyes, he could replay it across his brain. Every second. The way those long strands of silken hair had played across his cheek; how Zech's lips had been warm and firm and gently insistent. How one hand had settled on the curve of his hip, the other cupping the nape of his neck.

_Stop thinking about it. _

_It was just a kiss._

There was no reason to keep dwelling on it. It wasn't like no one had ever kissed him before.

He jerked his mind back to the present and jabbed one finger against the intercom.

'Wufei?' Zechs answered so quickly that he had the appalled thought that he'd been watching that pathetic little display of indecision on a security camera. 'Come on up. Just follow the drive; I'll see you in a moment.'

He'd assumed that Zechs' home would be an ultra modern villa like Quatre's. It wasn't. Well, the man was a prince after all, Wufei thought giddily. It made sense for him to live in a castle.

The heavy, brass-bound door swung open as Wufei ascended the last few steps and Zechs was there, smiling at him. Barefoot and with that hair scraped back into a messy pony-tail, the man looked positively edible.

'Welcome to my home.'

'It's amazing!'

Zechs smiled. 'I'm glad you like it. It's not to everybody's taste. Come in.'

'How old is it?' Wufei wondered, following the taller man down a long, paneled corridor and some deep stone steps to the ground floor.

'Oh, not nearly as old as it looks. One of my great uncles was the Sanque ambassador to Spain about seventy years ago, and built this place as his holiday home. It was the fashion then to model houses after Moorish castles. Unfortunately, it's practically crumbling to pieces around us, and I can't afford to renovate it, so it will probably fall down at some point.' He grinned. 'As you can see, the kitchen is practically a museum piece. By the way, I hope you like seafood. I thought we'd have lobster for lunch. '

'I love it.'

'Now, would you like something to drink? I just need to finish up a few things for lunch.'

'Just some water, please. Is there anything I can do to help?'

'Of course not, you're my guest. Why don't you take your drink out on to the terrace? I'll be with you in a moment.'

'No, I'd like to help.' Well, that wasn't entirely true. He just wanted to spend time with Zechs.

He'd never imagined preparing food could be an intimate experience. Moving around Zechs' kitchen gave wonderful opportunities for all sorts of little not-quite-accidental touches.

Especially when Zechs dipped a finger in the garlic mayonnaise he was making and invited him to taste it. _That_ ended up with Wufei backed against the cupboards with one hand sliding between Zechs' legs, and both of them panting for breath.

'Wufei,' his name came out as a ragged gasp. 'Stop. Please.'

'What's wrong?' Wufei asked tentatively, crossing his arms against his chest. Damnation, he was just hopeless at this sort of thing. 'What did I do?'

'Nothing,' Zechs said it in a rush. 'Really. You did nothing. I, God, Wufei, I'm trying to find some way to say this so it won't offend you. Come here.' He tugged Wufei into his arms, one hand stroking his hair gently. 'I just don't want you to jump on me, because you're feeling tired or confused or lonely or something, and then regret it.'

'I am more than old enough to know my own mind,' Wufei snapped coldly.

'I know. I know. I'm sorry; I knew you'd be pissed off if I said that.'

'What are you saying; that you don't want to have sex with me?'

'No.' Zechs lifted one hand to brush the long, pale bangs out of his eyes. 'Like I said, this morning, I always seem to be apologising to you. Listen, can we start this over again? I am very, very interested in you. I'm sure you've figured that out. You told me a couple of hours ago that you're not into flings. Nor am I. So do you think we could just…slow down a little bit?'

'Oh!' Wufei blinked, then felt his skin heat into a blush of radioactive proportions. 'I'm sorry. I- I'm not some sort of sexual compulsive. Really. I just…'

'Damn.' Zechs pulled away from him and banged his head, deliberately against the wall. 'Ouch! Shit. I keep messing up.'

'Trying to bash your brains out probably isn't the answer,' Wufei volunteered helpfully. 'I've already tried that earlier and it didn't help.'

Zechs gifted him with a glimmer of a smile. 'I didn't mean to accuse you of being a sex maniac. Truly. And I certainly wouldn't have a problem if you were. Just for the record,' his lips ghosted across Wufei's face, 'I would absolutely love to have sex with you. More than anything I can think of at the moment. But I don't want to go too fast and ruin things. Would you mind if we just got to know each other a little bit better first?'

'Of course not,' Wufei said quickly, suppressing a sudden urge to ask Zechs how long that would take. Damnuniverse. He'd spent his whole lifetime imposing his will onto his body's desires, and they have to choose this moment to fight back. Of course Zechs was perfectly right. Of _course_ he was. He should be thanking every deity in the universe that he'd met such an understanding, mature person.

Except his whole body was still singing from the feel of Zechs pressed against him…

'I'll just fetch a bottle of wine from the cellar.'

Wufei nodded, rather glad of the chance to be alone for a few moments, and collapsed into one of the chairs, burying his burning face in his hands.

_God, this is humiliating. _

Although Zechs had said he wanted to have sex. With him.

_More than anything I can imagine at the moment. _

That was how he'd put it. It hadn't been a lie either; men weren't terribly good at hiding that sort of thing, especially not at such close quarters. And it was a much better idea to wait until they were better acquainted. Of course it was.

_Just keep telling yourself that, Chang._

It wasn't that he'd been ready to pounce on the other man or anything. His body had just reacted without any communication with his brain. Never a good idea. Well, he wouldn't be doing that again, he resolved grimly.

He really hoped Zechs wasn't hiding from him in the wine cellar. It was rather reassuring that he was a little less confident about all this than Wufei had presumed. Rather endearing, actually.

Plates in hand, he wandered onto the terrace, and then heard voices drifting up from below.

'So?' Duo was demanding. 'Otto said you called over to see him this morning. What happened? First base? Second base? Grand climax at the Superbowl with a fireworks display?'

'Duo!' Zechs snapped. 'Stop it!' He lowered his voice, and hissed something in the other man's ears. Instead of looking remotely abashed, Duo started to laugh.

'Really! He's here? Cool!'

There was the sound of running footsteps on the stairs, and the door burst open.

'Hey, Wufei!' Duo greeted him like a long-lost friend. 'It's great to see you again.' Wufei knew he should feel offended that Duo had obviously been gossiping about him, but he somehow couldn't resist the other man's winsome smile, or the warmth in his voice.

'This is Heero, my other half. He's been dying to meet you.' A second man stepped into the doorway, managing to hold back his enthusiasm with apparent ease. Duo hauled him into the room, and Wufei had a sudden dazed moment of wondering if every man in the vicinity could be a male model, or cover art for _Hunk_ magazine, or a porn star.

He quashed _that_ thought quickly. Duo might be showing far too much skin, in indecently skimpy shorts and a tiny top that seemed to be missing half of its fabric, but Heero, who had accessorized his own outfit with a homicidal glare, rather obviously didn't like anyone looking at his partner.

'Ah, it's nice to meet you.' Wufei stretched out a hand. Heero, who, unlike Duo, seemed to be a man of few words, took it with a nod.

'So…' Duo shot that irrepressible smile at Zechs. 'What's for lunch? You don't mind us turning up, do you? But Heero just couldn't wait to meet Wufei.'

Heero said nothing. It looked to Wufei as if Heero could have enjoyed his afternoon off in a multitude of ways besides meeting him.

On the terrace, Wufei took the seat beside Zechs; Duo waited for Heero to sit down and clambered into his lap, stealing a piece of lobster off his plate.

'Wow, this is really good!' He filched another piece and twisted around to pour a glass of wine.

'Stop squirming, Maxwell,' Heero grumbled. 'I'm trying to eat.'

Duo grinned chirpily. 'Your fault if I can't sit still today, remember?' He twisted around and planted a sloppy kiss on Heero's cheek.

'Too much information,' Zechs interjected smartly, before Wufei's flush actually turned into spontaneous combustion. He'd never seen any couple, gay or straight, who were so openly affectionate with each other. 'Duo, I was telling Wufei about _Peacemillion_. He's never been on a boat; maybe you could take him out someday?'

'You've really never been on a boat?' Duo sounded shocked. 'That's terrible. Of course I'll bring you out. I've been charted by a school group tomorrow for a snorkeling trip. You're welcome to come if you don't mind spending the day with twenty hyperactive kids.'

'You mean, twenty one,' Heero said smoothly, and then winced as Duo dug an elbow into his side. 'I wish you'd stop doing that.'

'I wouldn't have to if you didn't keep making those smart comments,' Duo retorted, and then gasped as his boyfriend hauled him around and gave him what looked like an exhaustively thorough kiss.

Zechs just grinned at Wufei. 'You'll get used to it. They can't keep their hands off each other for more than two minutes. Well? Do you think you like the idea of going to sea in the morning?'

'I'm not sure. I should really try to get some editing done.' Wufei looked helplessly at Zechs. 'Are you going?'

'I'm afraid I have to look at a new commission. You should go, you know.'

'Isn't this something of a role reversal?' Wufei teased slyly. 'You're the one who told me I needed to have a little fun.'

'Oh!' Zechs actually looked rather nonplussed. 'You're right! I'm sure I could cancel my appointment.'

'You don't have to do that. I was only teasing.' Wufei looked down at this plate, suddenly embarrassed. He'd never imagined that Zechs would take him seriously; it felt surprisingly good, though, that he'd offered to skip work on his behalf, just to spend time with him. He couldn't remember anyone ever doing something like that before.

'Well, you don't have to decide right now.' Duo emerged from Heero's embrace, rumpled, flushed and with his lips rather swollen. 'I'll be leaving at around nine in the morning. Zechs can show you where the boat's docked. We're pretty unmissable anyway. If you come, just bring swimming trunks and your camera. We'll be back around three or four so you'll still have the evening free, if you and Zechs have anything planned.'

'Well, that's subtle,' Heero gave the long brown braid draped across his chest a slight tug. 'Wufei, please feel free to ignore him. Everyone else does.'

'Hey! That's not true, Yuy! You don't ignore me.'

'How can I? When you're bouncing around on my lap like this?'

'Oh? You'd prefer me to sit somewhere else? I can move.' Duo arched one eyebrow at his partner, standing up, and was immediately hauled back. 'Stop complaining then. I was just pointing out, in a very considerate manner, that if Zechs had maybe made any plans for tomorrow evening, say going out for a romantic, candlelit dinner, then we'd be back in plenty of time.' He grinned impishly at Wufei, who rather helplessly smiled back.

Zechs sighed. 'Maxwell, I am more than capable of making my own romantic arrangements, you know. And, no, I'm not planning on asking Wufei out while you're sitting here listening to everything I say.'

'Spoilsport,' Duo muttered. 'How about if I move away a little bit?' He rubbed his stomach. 'I think maybe I've eaten too much; maybe I need to lie down for a while?' Standing up, he took Heero's hand and led him down the steps, stretching out on one of the sun-loungers by the pool.

'Hmm. If I ask you out to now, will you always think it was at Duo's prompting?'

Wufei laughed suddenly. 'But of course. I could probably live with it, though.'

'Dinner then. Tomorrow night?'

'Yes, please.' He felt utterly, absurdly happy.

He had a date. An actual dinner date. The sun was shining, he'd had a wonderful meal, and Zechs was smiling at him. That smile made it easy to quash the persistently nagging little voice in his head that told him he hadn't done a tap of work in almost forty eight hours.

So what? He thought rebelliously. He'd sit down at the computer tomorrow. Or no, he couldn't. Not if he wanted to go sailing. Well, he could get up early.

'Would you like to take a nap?' Zechs asked quietly, indicating the pair of lounge chairs beside the swimming pool, and Wufei realized he'd drifted off again. Duo had curled up on a sun bed and Heero was perched beside him, stroking his long braid with one hand. 'You had a long day yesterday.'

'I never sleep in the afternoon.' The thought of it was decadent. But it would be wonderful to curl up on one of those long luxuriously cushioned sunbeds, perhaps with Zechs stretched beside him, and ….

'Zechs?' Heero's voice interrupted that pleasant little fantasy. And where in the world had _that_ come from? He never daydreamed. Never. 'I'm going to take Duo home. He's wrecked. D'you mind if I take your car? I'll drive it back up here.'

'Don't bother. I'll walk down to the harbour later and collect it myself. You know where the keys are.'

'We'll see you then. Wufei, it was nice to meet you.' He nodded his thanks to Zechs and vanished back into the house.

'Bye, Wufei.' Duo materialized, blinking in the bright sunlight and gave him a quick hug. 'Maybe see you in the morning? I'm sorry I was a bit - you know, today. I can actually behave myself, I promise.'

'It's fine.' Wufei surprised himself by returning the hug and the smile. 'I'd love to come tomorrow, if you're sure it's all right?'

'No bother. We'll have a blast!'

Letting him go, Duo smiled up at Zechs, and wrapped both arms around the taller man's neck. 'Thanks for lunch, Zechs. And for last night.'

_Last night…_Wufei's thoughts whirled off rebelliously. But Zechs had said that he and Duo weren't involved.

Zechs walked him to the door and when he came back, Wufei was standing. 'I should go too. I have work to do,' he said stiffly. 'Thank you for lunch.'

'Wufei? What's wrong? You weren't thinking of work ten minutes ago. 'You were perfectly happy and relaxed. What happened?'

'I'm sure you can work it out if you try.' Wufei's tone would have frozen fire. 'I don't know what's between you and Duo, but I don't want to get involved with whatever it is. I thought you said Heero was your friend. You may be comfortable with – whatever is between you, but I have no wish to get involved in your sordid affairs. Good day.'

'Wufei, wait!' Zechs leaped up, catching his arm as he stalked off. 'Just listen. Please. Please. It's not what you're thinking.'

Wufei swallowed hard, fighting off the impulse to jerk the other man loose, to break the hand that was holding him back. It wasn't _fair._ Maybe it was better just to walk away, relatively unscathed, before he plunged in any deeper. He could scarcely keep his footing as it was, and he'd spent no more than a couple of hours in Zechs' company.

'Duo's, well, his foster father - I suppose you could call him - died two years ago.' Zechs said softly. 'He's an orphan; he never knew who his parents were, and Howard took him in when he was about twelve. He was the only real family Duo ever knew. His death hit Duo really hard, as you can imagine. Last night was the anniversary of his death, and Duo was rather upset. Heero was away with work; he hadn't wanted to go but Duo insisted he'd be fine and made him go.'

'Oh. That's – that is truly awful,' Wufei breathed. He spent so much time of his life trying to meet his family's expectations, to make up for the ways he'd disappointed them, but he still couldn't imagine life as an orphan, even if it might be easier in some ways.

Zechs nodded. 'We stayed up for most of last night, talking. I swear, there's nothing else between us.'

He wanted to believe that so much; too much, really.

Better just to walk away. Not. The best way not to get hurt again.

'I apologise,' he said stiffly. 'I jumped to conclusions without knowing the full facts. That was unjust of me.'

Zechs grinned suddenly. 'Not at all. I know you were indignant on Heero's behalf. Is it presumptuous of me to think that maybe you were also a little angry on your own account?'

Wufei floundered desperately. He just couldn't _do_ this sort of thing. Flirting, teasing, whatever it was. Of course he'd been jealous. Duo was beautiful. Warm, impulsive, affectionate; all the things he wasn't.

All the things Quatre was.

He killed off that little thought ruthlessly.

'What is it?' Zechs demanded, the hand that had been holding his arm suddenly circling his waist instead. That felt so good. Instead of pleading that he still needed to leave, he let himself relax against the tall, solid body. He wasn't going to run off a second time, on some stupid excuse. He was going to trust Zechs, even if it was stupid, and see what happened.

'Nothing. I just thought…what about a walk on the beach?'

'Hmmm?' Zechs gave him a quizzical look.

'You told me you like walking on the beach. I can't remember the last time I did anything like that. It might be nice just to go for a stroll?'

'Well,' Zechs bent down for a quick kiss. 'If you're positive I won't be keeping you away from your writing, I suppose I could let you talk me into it.'

Wufei pursed his lips. 'Well, you will be taking me away from my work, but I've come to the conclusion that a little off might freshen my approach.'

_When exactly did I decide that?_ Wufei wondered, and then let the guiding hands of the taller man be the answer.


	5. Chapter 5

-1Note: Many thanks to Kaeru Shisho, for proofing and providing the perfect ending to this one.

**Chapter 5:**

'This is beautiful! I never imagined it would look anything like this.'

Wufei was stood stock still as they rounded the corner of the marina and walked out on to the beach, seemingly transfixed by the long, lovely curve of white-gold that stretched in front of them.

It was a view Zechs loved; one he saw from his bedroom window first thing every morning and last thing at night, but for once it failed to hold his attention. Not when he was similarly transfixed by the lovely curve of Wufei's ass, when it wasn't hidden by those hideous, sloppy linen trousers. The things were more like pyjamas than anything else; definitely not garments that should ever be worn in public.

Or in private, come to that, he decided, wondering what Wufei wore in bed. Nothing, hopefully.

It had taken time to convince him that he'd be more cool and comfortable if he borrowed a pair of shorts; not Zechs', which would have been swimming on him and negated the point of the whole exercise, but a pair of Duo's. It had been time well spent, though. He'd seen Wufei's bottom with those deliciously small, wet black briefs clinging to it, and there was simply no excuse for keeping anything that perfect under wraps. Still; he'd only arrived the night before; he probably hadn't got around to unpacking most of his clothes yet.

'Didn't Quatre send you any photographs?' Zechs asked, surprised that anyone would come to one of the most famous coastlines in Southern Europe and not have any idea what it would look like.

Wufei shrugged uncertainly. 'I think he did. I didn't pay much attention.' He bent and unlaced his trainers, looping them carefully around his neck and wiggling his toes in the soft sand, scooping up a handful and letting it fall through his fingers.

'Oh! That feels so good!'

From anyone else, Zechs would have taken that as a pick up line, but Wufei seemed genuinely enthralled by the soft grains of sand against his skin.

He was so _refreshing_; the perfect antidote to all those young men who fawned over Zechs for his title and his looks. Not that he hadn't taken advantage on occasion, particularly in the first year after Treize had left. It had palled soon enough, though; the endless parade of men who saw him as a way to get their pictures published in a trashy magazine, or as a passport to instant celebrity.

Wufei would never be like that; he'd probably run a mile sooner than allow a stranger to photograph him.

It was so _very _refreshing, being with someone who didn't seem to care who he was. And Wufei obviously didn't; he'd been spitting mad and utterly enchanting the previous night, with his complaints about the loud music.

Such a shame that he'd bolted so soon.

He was nothing at all like the retiring young man Quatre had described. His friend's emails had made Wufei out to be solitary to the point of being reclusive; socially awkward, and totally driven by his work. Zechs had promised to check on his new neighbour, and Quatre had warned that Wufei had an urgent deadline to meet, and interruptions probably wouldn't be welcome.

Still, the two had only met a couple of times, and Wufei had probably been uncomfortable around his ex's new lover. That would have been a horribly awkward situation, Zechs imagined. At least, Treize had never put him through something like that.

The Chinese man was a little shy, certainly, but he'd plainly enjoyed Duo's company, and he'd been fairly unfazed by Heero.

'I don't think I've ever been on a beach like this before. The coastline near home is all rocks.'

'Never? Didn't you go to the seaside when you were a child?'

'My parents never really had time. As far as they were concerned, the school holidays were for extra study.'

'Holidays are for having fun,' Zechs said firmly. 'And, yes, I know you're here to work and all that, but no one with the best will in the world can work twenty four hours a day.'

'Perhaps not,' Wufei graced him with a small, soft smile. 'It's so beautiful here. And so quiet. I can't believe it's so empty.'

Zechs laughed, leading the way down the beach. 'It is now, because it's early April. Wait 'til July and August. It gets horribly crowded. Even then, you can walk a mile or so up the coast and find somewhere fairly secluded. A lot of people like to stay near the marina, where the bars and restaurants are. It's also 'clothing optional' the farther you go from the road.'

'Honestly? It's a nudist beach?'

'Only if you want to strip off.' And he found himself really, really hoping Wufei would. 'It's not compulsory.' He smiled. 'Southern Europeans tend to be much more unselfconscious about that sort of thing. Most women go topless on the beach, and some men…' he smiled, 'like to go bottomless.'

Wufei blushed; charmingly, Zechs thought. 'Have you ever done that?'

'On occasion, yes. You should try it sometime.'

His companion shook his head firmly. 'Certainly not. My family would have collective coronaries if they even suspected I'd done such a thing.'

'Well, they'd never know,' Zechs tempted.

'My ancestors would!'

Hmm. Interesting that it wasn't a personal objection as such. 'If you ever do fancy it, there are some very secluded little spots along the coast that we go to sometimes. You needn't worry about an audience watching you.' Well, only an enthralled audience of one. 'Heero would never let Duo strip off in public, so we know some places that aren't generally visited.'

'Heero does seem to be slightly possessive.'

Zechs, who occasionally suffered from that particular vice himself, nodded. 'Saying Heero is _slightly possessive _is rather like saying that the Pope is slightly Catholic.' _Or that you're only slightly beautiful. _'Heero is very, very possessive. Believe it or not, he's become a lot more restrained than he used to be. Duo's taught him how to relax a great deal.'

_And I could teach you how to relax. If you'd let me._

Wufei nodded, bending to pick up a small shell and examine it like it was something precious.

'May I see?'

'Of course. It's so perfect! I'll have to get a book on shells. I really know nothing about nature, I'm afraid.'

'You can borrow one from Heero. I don't know if anyone mentioned it, but he's a marine biologist; he's got a whole library of nature books.'

'I would like that.' Wufei placed the shell, very carefully, in his pocket, and Zechs couldn't resist taking his hand.

'Zechs!' The Chinese man gasped, glancing quickly around to check that there was no one watching them. There wasn't; there were a few other people on the beach, but the elderly couple by the water's edge were engrossed in throwing sticks for their golden retriever, and the young couple climbing the sand dunes were engrossed in each other.

'It's all right,' Zechs murmured. 'I promise, no one will even bat an eyelid. I've seen guys doing much more than holding hands on this particular stretch of beach.'

'I've never done anything like this before,' Wufei confided softly, 'held hands with someone on a beach.'

'Do you like it?'

'It's….acceptable. Rather nice actually.' His smaller fingers curled around Zechs' hand. 'You do seem to have Duo's gift for relaxing people. Well, me anyway. Zechs, was he serious about taking me out in his boat tomorrow?'

'Absolutely. If Duo says something, he means it. You'll find that out when you get to know him. Will you go?'

'I shouldn't really.' He looked rather wistful all the same. 'I'm supposed to be working. That's the reason I came here?'

'Do you always do what you're supposed to? Don't you ever want to do something purely selfish?'

'Yes to your first question, much of the time. But I do indulge myself occasionally.' He squeezed Zechs' hand slightly.

'Am I an indulgence?' He couldn't remember the last time he'd talked, flirted so naturally with another man. Wufei quite obviously didn't care about the fact that was distantly related to half of the royal families of Europe, or graced the social pages of newspapers on a fairly regular basis. Wufei was talking to _him_, not to a title, and it made the conversation more intimate than many discussions he'd had with men he'd dated for weeks on end.

'Oh, yes.' The look from those dark eyes was very direct. There would be no games with Wufei; just candour and honesty. How the _hell _had Trowa, who'd seemed like a sensible, intelligent person, ever been fool enough to let this one go?

'Good. Now we've established my place in your life, will you permit me to indulge you a little more?'

Wufei hesitated for a moment, and then he was the one to step forward. Zechs could taste the salt-spray on his skin, on his lips. The heat of his mouth compared to the cool breeze from the sea. This time, he kissed Wufei to the soft sounds of the lapping waves, and a seagull shrieking high overhead.

There was no shyness either. Wufei threw his head back so Zechs could press kisses down the sweet curve of his throat, and let both hands roam over Zechs' back, and just _melted _against the taller man.

_Barton, you're an idiot. Thank you. _

'If you keep indulging me like that, I'm going to be very spoilt.'

'Oh, I imagine I will. You'll just have to get used to it.' Zechs kissed him again, taking advantage of the other man's distraction to slide one hand through all that silky, jet-black hair, and slip off the little elastic.

'Zechs! It's far too windy for my hair to be loose,' he scolded, adroitly taking back the tie and securing his hair. It was well worth the rebuke to have seen him like that, though, even for a minute, with that hair whipping around his face. He looked so different with it loose; nothing like the prim and proper professor he obviously tried so hard to be, but quite deliciously wanton.

Such lovely hair; it would look beautiful spread around him on a pillow….

'You are utterly adorable, do you know that?'

'I'm nothing of the sort!

'Oh yes, you are. Really, Wufei, don't you know that you should encourage compliments from your boyfriend, not dismiss them?'

'Are you my boyfriend?'

Zechs gave him a stern look. 'Well, I don't know anything about your personal standards, but I don't make a habit of holding the hands of random strangers in public. Or kissing them for that matter.'

Wufei laughed at him, those gloriously dark eyes gleaming. 'Neither do I, actually.'

'I'm very glad to hear it.' Zechs took his hand again, and led him along the beach. 'Since that seems to make us officially a couple, I'd better warn you; I have slight tendencies in the possessive direction myself. Nothing as severe as Heero, mind you.'

'How severe are _slight possessive tendencies_?' Wufei wondered aloud. He was smiling faintly, though, as if he didn't wholly dislike the idea.

'Very mild, actually. I would take exception to any other man blatantly hitting on you in my presence. And I would very much dislike seeing you encourage them.'

It had been one of Treize's favourite power games; that overt flirting in public with anything that moved. Particularly if they'd had a disagreement over something; a good way to put Zechss in his place and show him that his lover had plenty of other options.

'I would never permit such a thing!' Wufei sounded affronted at the very idea of it. 'I don't call that possessiveness, really. Or if it is, it's something I suffer from also. I'd hate to see you flirting with someone else,' he said frankly. 'It would be disrespectful!'

It was an admission that took Zechs' breath away; the sheer openness of it. The young man whose hand he was holding - whose hand he had no intention of letting go - might be a little reserved, but he was achingly honest about what he wanted. This relationship was going to be based on sheer trust.

'I promise, that would never happen. I can't imagine even noticing anyone else if I were in your company. I certainly wouldn't want to be with them.'

'Really?' Wufei was gazing up at him with the most heartbreakingly hopeful expression on his face. Dear Gods, what had Barton been about; not to have showered this beauty with reassurances and compliments?

'Really.' He took a deep breath, trying to work out how best to say what he had to. 'Wufei, I haven't exactly been celibate in my life, but I have always been faithful to my partners. Always.'

Wufei just nodded; Zechs would have missed that tiny gleam of relief if he hadn't been watching him closely. What did that mean; that someone had cheated on him in the past? Surely not Barton; Quatre would never want to be with someone who had treated a partner so shabbily.

'Would you like to sit for a moment? I love the view from here.' They both sank down on to the warm sand, not touching apart from that light clasp of hands.

'This always my favourite place when I was a child. We used to come here for holidays every summer; Relena and I used to live in bathing suits for days at a time.'

'She's your sister?'

Zechs nodded. 'She's four years younger, but we've always been very close. Tell me about your family. Do you have brothers and sisters?'

Wufei shook his head. 'I'm an only child. My parents found bringing up one son to be time consuming enough. They're both doctors and very focussed on their careers. I was brought up to believe that academic success was the most important thing in the world.' He hunched one shoulder. 'Doing well at school was about the only thing that got their attention, let alone their approval. I'm afraid I was a terrible swot as a child.'

'It sounds a rather….unappealing existence for a small boy.' Zechs chose his words carefully. He couldn't very well start to criticise his boyfriend's parents, but his childhood sounded appalling.

'Oh, it wasn't that bad. I was a bookworm anyway. And I have a huge extended family; practically a clan of its own, so I did have plenty of companions. My second cousin, Meilan, is exactly my age, and she's always been something of a rebel. On the rare occasions when I did get into trouble, she was usually the cause of it.'

'I think I like the sound of her,' Zechs approved, eyes sparkling. 'Tell me, how did she lead you astray?'

'Use your imagination,' Wufei groaned, sinking down on to the sand. 'When we were twelve, we stole a bottle of her father's best brandy and drank it all; at fifteen, we went joyriding in her neighbour's vintage Mercedes; We were _terrible_, really. She was always thinking of the most outrageous things for us to do.'

'Hmm. I like the idea of you doing outrageous things. Are you two still friends?'

'Oh, yes. I don't see her very much though. She studied Geology and she's working in Australia now. We phone every week or so.' He draw a small pattern in the sand with one finger; Chinese characters that Zechs couldn't read. 'She's going to be thrilled when I tell her about you. She's always telling me I need to meet somebody.'

'I like her more and more. Does your family know you're gay then?'

'Oh, yes.' He gave Zechs one of those adorable little smiles, which invited him to share a secret joke. 'I was so worried about telling my parents; that they'd consider I was letting down the family or something. They're quite conservative. But they were fine; I think they were much more upset when I told them I was planning to study history instead of science. After that, they weren't overly worried about the gay thing. And I have many, many male cousins, so there are plenty of people to carry on the family name.'

'That does help. I've never even begun to count my distant cousins, but they all appear out of the woodwork when they want their gardens landscaped.'

'Why did you choose landscaping as a career?'

'I didn't, not really.' He looked out to sea. 'I – ah – imagine you know what happened to my parents.'

'Yes. I'm terribly sorry.' Wufei pressed his hand, just a warm, gentle pressure of his fingers.

Zechs squeezed back. 'My father studied law at university. It's something of a family tradition, so that's what I decided to do. I wasn't particularly interested in the subject, After two years, I realized I was totally miserable, and a very close friend convinced me that I should choose my own life. I'd always enjoyed gardening. It was one of my mother's passions; I can still remember following her around our garden at home when I was very small, and helping her. I took a course at a horticultural college and when I graduated, I just set up on my own.'

'Do you enjoy it?'

'Very much. I like creating gardens out of nothing. And you? Why history?'

'It's always been the thing I've been most fascinated in. as I said, both of my parents have very demanding careers so I was mostly raised by my grandfather. He was a very accomplished amateur historian, so I grew up surrounded by history books. I am starting to think, though, that I've been spending rather too much time thinking about the past.'

'The present is important,' Zechs murmured. 'Your parents must be very proud of all you've accomplished.'

Wufei shrugged. 'Now, perhaps. They were furious when I decided to major in oriental history, rather than what they considered to be the more important subjects. I suppose they've finally accepted it.'

'And what about you? Can you see yourself staying in a university for the rest of your life?'

'I don't know really. I like teaching; far more than I'd thought I would, actually. And I love writing; that feeling that I'm creating something out of my head.' He shook the head in question. 'It's so odd. When I'm at home, I spend hours writing every day; I resent anything that takes me away from my computer. I've done absolutely nothing today and I couldn't care less. It all seems a million miles away at the moment.'

Zechs slid an arm around his waist. 'Sometimes it's good just to live in the present, don't you think? To take a little break from routine?'

'That is what I seem to be doing at the moment.' Instead of pulling away he relaxed into the other man's embrace.

'I was an indulgence a few minutes ago, and now I've been demoted to a mere break?' Zechs teased. Wufei felt so incredibly good against him, especially when he twisted around and began to press tiny kisses along his jaw line. No, he was nothing like the cold, prim figure Quatre had described; very much the opposite.

'You're an indulgent break,' Wufei parried with one of those glimmering smiles and the most adorable little wrinkling of his nose, and nuzzled his mouth against Zechs'. 'Is it all right for me to do this? I know you said you wanted to take things slowly.'

'I never meant that we couldn't do _anything.' _Zechs arched back as Wufei found that sensitive - oh, very sensitive - little place in the base of this throat and grazed it with his teeth. 'And slow can be good sometimes, don't you think?'

'Oh, I see. That's rather different, then.' He kissed his way - achingly, agonisingly slowly - back up the column of Zechs' neck, until their mouths met.

It undoubtedly made him a total masochist, but there was something very appealing about what Wufei was doing. He was almost sure nothing was going to happen; there were a few people walking up and down the beach, after all. There was nothing to stop any of them from deciding to explore the sand dunes. It was thrilling all the same; it was the first time in so long that he'd enjoyed a little above the waist action for its own sake.

Wufei blew gently into his ear, and then fastened his teeth around the lobe. Nibbling gently at first and then giving a little nip to the soft flesh, before suckling it gently.

God, he couldn't remember the last time anyone had teased him like this.

'I have absolutely no idea where I had the ridiculous notion that you're shy,' he murmured, and Wufei gave a throaty little laugh, switching his attentions to the other ear, and dropping a kiss on his mouth _en route_.

It shouldn't have been such a surprise. After all, it was Wufei, in the end who'd initiated their first kiss. Then he'd been all set to ravish Zechs in his own kitchen before lunch. And damn, _that _had felt good; that lithe, supple body writhing against his.

He hadn't lied when he told Wufei he would prefer not to rush things, or only a little. He didn't want this to be a quick fling, based on nothing more than mutual desire, and he really didn't want the other man to do anything he might regret.

'Well, you did catch me off balance this morning. I was practically naked in the swimming pool, and you appeared out of nowhere. Of course I was embarrassed! And I thought you were with Duo, but you still seemed to be flirting with me.'

Zechs grinned. 'Ah, I think I see this possessive streak coming out now. I'm sorry; I should have explained at once that I was totally single and available.'

'I hope you don't customarily introduce yourself to strangers in that fashion,' Wufei said tartly. 'But I note that you used the past tense there.

'Oh, very much so. Ever since I saw you in this deliciously skimpy little briefs of yours.'

He still had that perfect vision firmly stashed in his mind; the wet material hugging the curves of ass and hip, and the enticing bulge between his legs. Oh, he wasn't likely to forget _that _any time soon. It didn't compare to the reality, though, of the lovely young man pressed against him.

Waiting was going to very difficult, but hopefully worth every minute of the sweet torture.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: No, they don't belong to me.

Note: Many thanks to KS for reading and laughing.

**Chapter 6:**

Chang Wufei was a man who liked to live his life according to a fixed, even rigid, routine. Monday mornings, even though he disliked them, were no exception.

He didn't have any classes until eleven o'clock, but he was expected to attend a faculty meeting at nine; almost always a complete waste of time. Then he was supposed to spend the hour before class in his office, to meet students who wished to discuss their academic progress, and talk about any problems.

He wouldn't have minded discussing the progress, or even trying to help with any problems. However, the students who did turn up at his door - interrupting valuable writing time - invariably were only after one thing; extensions for projects or assignments. The fact that he had only granted one such extension in several years, and that on the death of a parent, didn't seem to deter anyone. If anything, it seemed to spur the more recalcitrant students on to create more and more extravagant excuses.

One would have preferred for students at a prestigious university to have better uses for their time. Still, there was the added bonus that most of lazier members of his class were still abed so early on a Monday morning, recovering from the weekend's excesses. There were some blissful mornings when no one disturbed him at all.

Anyway, it was a part of his weekly routine, and that was that.

Which didn't explain why, on this particular Monday morning, in early April, Wufei was steering a sailing ship across the sun-sparkled blue expanse of the Mediterranean. And loving every minute of it.

If he kept his gaze resolutely ahead, he couldn't even see the Spanish coastline, only the glittering turquoise sea. He could pretend to be one of those Spanish or Portuguese explorers heading for the New World to find treasure and glory. Or a pirate.

A pirate was more appealing, really. Those explorers were presumably answerable at some level to their monarchs, with orders to follow. Pirates did just as they pleased.

The last year they'd been together, Trowa had dragged him to a couple of ridiculously swashbuckling pirate films, full of inaccuracies and anachronisms, . He'd hated them at the time, but now he was starting to see the attraction of a boat responding to one's hand on the wheel, and an infinity of sea and sky ahead.

Even the laughing, chattering group of teenage girls at the front of the boat could be easily enough transferred to his pirate fantasy. Captured Christian slaves, bound for the great slave markets of the East.

That would be the best place for them, Wufei decided. They'd finally taken the hint that he had no desire to flirt or chat with them, but it had taken several quite determined rebuffs. And their teacher was no better; she'd even asked him at one point to rub sun oil into her back.

Duo, who'd been standing beside him, had had mild hysterics at that point.

Lamentable behaviour on what was supposed to be a biology field trip for the girls from a local convent school. It would do them all good to be sold on the block and perhaps teach them a little respect for their elders.

Not that he was much better, Wufei thought ruefully. Duo had trusted him to steer while he looked over the boat's snorkelling equipment and he was indulging in the most ridiculous flights of fancy. It was so out of character; historians dealt in proven facts, not daydreams, but then so much of what he'd done since coming to Spain was out of character.

Zechs would be a glorious pirate. Wufei visualised all that magnificent hair tied back with a silk scarf and dressed him in tight leather breeches and one of those ruffled shirts.

_Ooh._

'Ahoy, me hearty!' Duo called cheerfully, stepping beside him and turning the wheel just a little to the left. 'Try to hold this course if you can. No sloping off to Cartagena to sack the city of gold!'

Wufei blushed furiously, too startled even to dissemble. 'How the hell did you know what I was thinking?'

Duo grinned. 'It's what everyone thinks the first time they come abroad. Wait 'til you see her under sail. You'll _really _be ready to take off and attack the Spanish fleet. Heero and I play pirate games all the time where there's no one else on board.' He followed that up with a broad wink, leaving Wufei in no doubt as to the nature of those games, and firmly cementing the blush in place.

'Oh! Aren't you going to - I don't know the technical term - put up the sails?'

'Raise canvas, you mean,' Duo informed in a mock sailor's drawl. 'Nope, not today. It's a bit tricky when I'm by myself, especially when I need to keep an eye on all these passengers. Besides, there's not that much wind today and these ladies want to make a couple of snorkelling stops and then land on a beach. It's easier just to use the engine.'

'How many people do you need to sail her then?'

'Oh, I can do it by myself. Just shift the wheel a degree to starboard. No, starboard's right. Perfect.'

'Would you like to take over?'

'No, you're doing great. Gives me a chance to take a break, too.' He flopped down on the planks, long legs sprawled in front of his and face lifted to the sun. He was almost over-dressed by his usual standards in baggy t-shirt and shorts; no doubt because he had paying customers on board. 'Enjoying yourself?'

'Absolutely!'

'Cool!' Duo grinned up at him. 'Just relax a little bit; try to imagine the ship's alive. You can't force her to do what you want, but you can guide her, if you get it right. It's sort of like riding a horse, if you've ever done that. You don't want to get too tense. This is meant to be fun. And there's nothing you can bump into until you hit Africa. You'd probably see that in time to change course.'

Wufei laughed, loosening his white-knuckle grip on the wheel and feeling the ship dance under his hand. 'Is this all right?'

'Perfecto! If you're not careful, I'm going to conscript you as _Peacemillion's _newest crew member.'

'I don't think I'd mind that,' Wufei confessed. Honestly, what would his friends say if he told them he'd run away to sea? What would Trowa think? Well, his ex wouldn't be able to accuse him of being predictable and conventional any more. 'I keep meaning to ask, what does _Peacemillion _mean?'

'No idea. Howard came up with the name one night when he was pissed and could never remember where he got it from. It's considered bad luck to change a ship's name; you have to have a ceremony to propitiate Neptune and stuff and at least _Peacemillion_'s an original name.' He flicked his braid over one shoulder and stretched out full length, soaking up the sun's warmth. 'God, I love days like this.'

'It's wonderful. Thank you so much for inviting me.'

'Well, you're doing all the work, so you're more than welcome. Anyway, you were asking about sailing. If I've got a group of passengers, I like to have at least one other person with me, just in case something goes wrong; an experienced person if we're actually under sail. Heero comes out when he can get time off work, or Zechs sometimes, or a friend of mine called Hilde. Otherwise, I take her out by myself. I've sailed her across the Atlantic alone, which was damn stupid really, so I _can _handle her without help.'

'Across the Atlantic?' Wufei echoed. 'Really? From Spain?'

'Yes, yes, and yes. That's what ships are for, you know. For getting places.'

'Well, yes, but still. It sounds very impressive. I've never met anyone who's sailed across an ocean before. Sailed anywhere really.'

'It was dumb.' Despite his words, Duo looked rather pleased at Wufei's reaction, pulling himself up to look at him properly. 'Heero and I had this massive row a couple of years ago, and I just took off.'

'Across the ocean?' Wufei goggled at him, trying to imagine reacting like that. He and Trowa had almost never argued about anything; they'd had mature, logical discussions leading to mutually acceptable compromises. Even when they'd broken up, they'd been perfectly adult about it. Of course, back then, he hadn't thought the break up would last. He'd thought that Trowa was indulging in some premature midlife crisis and would come back once he'd realised that all his romantic fantasies about finding the perfect soul mate were just dreams. Instead, he'd met Quatre.

Looking back, maybe they _should _have fought about things.

'It must have been a massive row,' Wufei said, immensely awed by the young man at his feet, who had taken a small, wooden vessel to another continent. 'What happened? I'm sorry; I don't mean to pry into your private business or anything.'

'That's OK. It was just a stupid argument, actually. I sort of over-react to stuff sometimes, and it happened just after my friend Howard died so I was pretty sensitive about things. By the time I came to my senses, I was in the middle of this massive storm. Scared the shit out of me.'

'And then what happened? Did you go back to Heero?'

'Not exactly.' Duo looked down at the braid coiled in his lap, an odd little smile dancing on his lips. 'He came after me.' One shoulder lifted in a rough shrug. 'Said he'd drag me home by the hair if he had to, but I _was _going back with him, and that was that. He's really cute when he goes all caveman.'

Wufei shook his head. If anyone ever threatened to drag him anywhere by the hair, he would…well, he didn't know _what _he would do, but it would be very bad. He couldn't remotely understand why Duo, who seemed a very independent and intelligent person, had put up with something like that. 'How did you two meet?' he asked finally. It wasn't too invasive a question, but maybe it would help him to understand this odd relationship.

'Here. Exactly here.' Duo tapped the steering wheel. 'Two years and four months ago, pretty much. Howie and I were running evening cruises around the bay coming up to Christmas. Corporate groups and office parties; that sort of thing. Well, we were booked on Christmas Eve for a group from the Lowe Marine Institute, which is where Heero works. I was putting fairy lights around the wheel, just where you're standing now. When I looked up there was this guy standing on the pier, glaring at me, and asking if I knew anything about health and safety regulations at sea. I thought he was a total prick at the start, even if he was super- hot, but then we got talking. Poor Howard ended up having to do everything himself. When we got back into port, Heero stayed to help me clean up, and he's pretty much been around ever since.' He glanced up and grinned. 'That's my big romance. So what's the story with you and Zechs?'

Wufei stared very hard at the horizon, hoping to see a pirate ship or a sea monster, or anything that might distract Duo from this line of questioning. He should never have started asking personal questions, but he had and Duo had answered, and now he had to reciprocate somehow.

Instead, the other man jumped to his feet. 'Oops. Gotta take a rain check on that. Looks like our lovely ladies are ready to go snorkelling. Just hold her steady while I drop the anchor, OK?'

When the last girl had vanished over the side, Duo wandered back. 'There! We can relax now for a bit. They'll be gone for about an hour. I've got some spare equipment, if you fancy jumping in. You have snorkelled before, haven't you?'

Wufei shook his head, feeling horribly inadequate. It was a new feeling, and one he disliked intensely.

'Right. I'll give you a lesson when we stop at the beach for lunch. Zechs says you're a good swimmer, so you should be fine. I'd rather stay on board while the girls are in the water, just to do a head count every now and then.' He flicked Wufei one of those naughty grins. 'Probably safer not to strip off in front of them, anyway. I hope you brought your chastity belt?'

'_What_?'

The grin widened, impossibly. 'Just a joke Heero and I have. But seriously, we'll be lucky to escape with our virtue today. Teenage girls are damned scary sometimes! I thought those two blonde babes were going to jump you earlier. The ones who were trying to get you to adjust their bikini straps.'

Wufei snorted. 'Well, thank you for your help, in that case.'

Duo tried to look soulfully innocent. 'I _would _have helped you, but I had the ship to look after. And I thought you liked blondes, no? You seem to like Zechs all right.'

Ah, back to that.

'I've only just met him.'

'Mmmm.' Duo plainly wasn't going to let it go that easily. 'I was there when you met him. Remember? I saw the way you looked at him.'

'I did not look at him in any particular way,' Wufei said it with dignity, wondering if he could swim to land if Duo kept this up. How had he looked at Zechs anyway? He'd been furious with the inconsiderate, selfish neighbour whose noise had kept him from working; he'd been prepared to state his grievances plainly and then leave. He hadn't _looked _at Zechs.

'Hey, chill. He's a seriously hot guy, right? I don't blame you. Are you looking forward to your date with him tonight?'

'Naturally,' the Chinese man said stiffly, turning to lean against the rail. Of course he was looking forward to seeing Zechs again. He couldn't wait, in fact. But he wasn't in the habit of confiding that sort of information.

'Wufei, listen.' Duo's voice was very quiet, serious for once. 'I'm sorry if I pissed you off. It's just - well, this is all strange for you, right? You're in a new country; you're miles from your normal life; you don't have your friends around, and I thought you might like to talk to somebody about stuff. If you don't, that's cool.'

'No, I'm sorry,' Wufei said abruptly, disarmed both by Duo's tone and the obvious extension of friendship. Since everything else about his life was new, maybe he could start to confide in someone? 'That's very kind of you. This is all rather strange, just as you say. My life at home is very ordered, every day is precisely laid out. Since I got here, everything is upside down! Even being out with you on a Monday morning. I should be teaching a class on Chinese epic poetry right now, not lounging in the sun!'

Duo pulled a face. 'Bit of a difference, all right. Which one d'you think is more fun?'

Fun? Wufei's life was ordered by duty and responsibility and the desire to please his employers and his family. None of them were activities that left a great deal of time for fun. 'This. Very definitely.'

'That's OK then. Seriously, I know we don't really know each other, and I know you've got Zechs, but if you'd just like to talk or to hang out with someone, I'm usually around. Despite what you probably think, I am capable of keeping my mouth shut when I want. And I do know what it's like to meet someone and then suddenly be thrown into this group of friends who've known each other for ever.'

Wufei nodded. 'You and Zechs seem to get on well enough.'

'Oh, he's the best,' Duo said enthusiastically. 'His sister, Relena, is a sweetheart as well, and her best friend Dorothy is great fun. And Otto; you met him on Saturday night. The guy who was minding the gate.'

Wufei was just wondering if he'd deliberately omitted Quatre from the list of Zechs' friends when Duo gave him a sidelong grin. 'Is it really weird, that we all know Quat? Given that he's with your ex?'

'I suppose it would be, if I let myself think about it too much.' He hadn't though. It was easier not to; the same way that it was easier not to dwell on the fact that he was living in Quatre's house. He'd never intended any of this, when he'd applied for his sabbatical. He'd assumed that life would just go on as normal, except that he wouldn't have to take classes. Then the university authorities had informed him that his apartment on campus was needed for a visiting professor, and he'd abruptly been homeless. Trowa had told him that Quatre almost never used the Spanish house, and it had seemed a good option for a couple of weeks, until he sorted out other arrangements. 'It's almost weirder that you've all met Trowa.'

'Oh, yeah. I suppose. I've only met him once though, at a dinner party Quatre gave.' His tone was studiously bland. 'Doesn't have a lot to say for himself, does he?'

'He is rather quiet,' Wufei agreed. He somehow couldn't imagine Trowa getting along with Duo.

'How did you two meet?'

'At university. We met in our first week, when we both joined the judo society.'

Duo looked surprised, eyes widening. 'So you were both - what? Eighteen? I hadn't realised you'd been together for so long.'

'We weren't. We were just friends for years.'

'Yeah? What, you didn't want to mess up the friendship or you didn't think he was interested?'

'I don't know, really,' Wufei answered, thinking back. 'I suppose a little of both. Then after we graduated, we ended up sharing an apartment and we eventually got together. It just made sense, I suppose. We were best friends, we both had similar career goals, we already knew that we were compatible as housemates. And we had interests and friends in common; in fact, most of our friends thought we'd already been a couple for ages..'

'No offence, but that doesn't sound madly romantic.'

'Maybe it wasn't, but we were happy. Well, I thought we were happy, but I was apparently wrong.' He couldn't help the little note of bitterness that crept in there. It was true; he had thought they were a happy, well suited couple until Trowa had left.

'That sucks,' Duo's voice was gently sympathetic. 'That must still hurt, right? Even if it has been a while since you broke up. It's been well over a year, right?'

'It does hurt, sometimes.' It was the first time he'd admitted it. 'It hasn't been that long, actually. Technically we split up about a year ago, but we were still friends and we still saw each other frequently. Neither of us was dating anyone else, so we sometimes…well, you can use your imagination. To be honest, I was sure he'd come back eventually. He had all these silly notions about how he wanted to find his soul mate or some such. I was so sure that at some point, he'd realise it was nonsense, and then he met Quatre.'

The other man frowned. 'Wait a sec. I thought Quat met Trowa around this time last year. What the hell was he doing; two timing you both or something?'

'No! it was nothing like that. He had met Quatre through work; he designs computer software and he was installing some new systems at Winner Industries. He just never thought that Quatre would be interested, or even if he was gay.'

'Oh, please,' Duo scoffed. 'He must be blind if he wasn't sure about that. Quatre practically has his own private rainbow shining down on him.'

'Well, whatever. I think he never thought Quatre would be interested, and then they gradually got to know each other as friends and then started dating.'

'So he strung you along 'til he was sure of him, is that it?' Duo demanded. 'Sweet guy; keeping his ex on the side while he tried to hook up with someone else. Shit; you're better off without someone like that.'

'It wasn't like that, Duo,' Wufei protested. It hadn't been. Of course not. He didn't want to admit that his oldest friend and former lover was capable of something like that. 'Trowa was totally honest with me about his feelings for Quatre. As soon as he knew Quatre felt the same way, he finished with me.'

'Oh, big deal. And meanwhile, he kept you hanging for how long? Months? When you could have been getting on with your life and meeting some one who'd treat you right. Bastard.'

'Don't. He's still one of my closest friends. And it wasn't all his fault. I went along with it, and I was often the one pushing him to stay the night.' God, he'd never blushed so much in his life. Well, apart from yesterday morning when Zechs had seen him in the pool.

Duo gave him a long stare. 'You know, it's OK to admit that you were hurt. Even by a friend. You might want to talk about that with him sometime, if you two are all that close. Let him know how you feel.'

Wufei murmured something non-committal, knowing he'd never do it. He couldn't talk about something like that to Trowa, and there was no point anyway. What was done was done. Trowa was blissfully happy with Quatre, and he'd met Zechs.

Duo jumped up. 'Probably time to do a head count. Check that none of the little darlings has been gobbled up by a shark.' He hesitated, one arm flung over the rail. 'Can I just say one thing and then I swear I'll stop interfering? Just give Zechs a chance. I know you've been burned and all, but try not to shut yourself off to being with someone amazing, OK?'

Wufei nodded. It was odd, but he wasn't really averse to giving Zechs that chance. In fact, he might be inspired to take a chance or two himself.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Wing characters and make no profit from writing about them.

Note: Many thanks to KS for providing the perfect ending, and to everyone who has been kind enough to review.

**Chapter 7: **

Surveying the contents of his wardrobe, Wufei realised he had absolutely no idea what to wear.

It was utterly ridiculous. He'd never given a moment's thought to what he wore when he went out with Trowa. Agonising over clothing choices was something women did.

It should have been simple; it wasn't even as if he had a lot to choose from. The clothes he'd brought were him were mainly casual and comfortable, suitable for writing and working out, and a few more formal items.

He could wear his dark dress trousers, but then what if Zechs turned up in jeans? Or if he dressed down and then they went to a five star restaurant? Zechs was undoubtedly the sort of person who frequented such places, but he might decide to take Wufei somewhere less formal for their first date. Or he might have chosen the most expensive, exclusive restaurant in the south of Spain.

Damnation.

For the first time in his entire life, he understood why Sally's policy with first dates was always to find out first where she was being brought, so she could dress accordingly. Sensible woman.

Damnation. This was insane. It was only dinner. Dinner with the most handsome man he'd ever seen in his life, who happened to be his boyfriend.

He didn't have time to go shopping, wouldn't know where to go or what to buy if he did. He'd just decided on black jeans with a smart shirt as an acceptable compromise when the 'phone rang.

'Zechs.' Wufei found himself smiling idiotically into the mouthpiece. 'Hello!'

'Hello, yourself. Did you have a good day?'

'It was great. I'm seriously thinking of running away to sea.'

'As a cabin boy on _Peacemillion_?' Zechs teased. 'Why not? But not until after dinner, please.'

'All right. How was your day?' It was, Wufei decided, an oddly intimate little conversation. It was nice.

'Not nearly so much fun as yours. I spent two hours trying to convince my new clients that I can't just uproot fully grown, century-old Red Oaks from Sanc and transplant them in Southern Spain.'

Wufei laughed. 'I definitely had more fun than you, in that case.'

'I'm glad. I was just calling about this evening. I know I said I'd pick you up at seven, but I may be a little late. It should take me about two hours to drive home. I'm going to hit all the rush hour traffic.'

The Chinese man looked at his watch. It was coming up to half past five, and he knew Zechs had left home before eight in the morning.

'Would you prefer to cancel for tonight then? You'll probably be exhausted.'

'Nonsense. I've been looking forward to seeing you all day.' He paused. 'Or, if you'd prefer to leave it, of course that's fine.

'I don't want to!' Wufei said quickly. 'I was just thinking that you've had a long day, and perhaps you'd prefer a quiet evening.'

'I'd prefer to spend the evening with you,' Zechs told him, the smile in his voice very apparent. 'Since we've established conclusively that we both actually want to spend time together, I was thinking we could drive into Marbella. There are some excellent restaurants.'

'But you've been driving all day,' Wufei argued. 'We could just walk down to the marina and eat there. Or even have something at home, if you'd rather not go out anywhere.'

'Hmm. That is rather tempting,' the blond admitted.

'I can cook something, if you want to come over here. Or we could order a takeaway.'

'No, I'll pick something up on my way home. But Wufei, I asked you out. It's hardly much of a date if you just come next door. I wanted to take you somewhere nice.'

'Really?' the other man teased. 'I thought we'd agreed to take things slowly. I hadn't realised sex was an option for tonight.'

'_Wufei_! I didn't mean anything like that!' Zechs started to laugh, sounding just a little bit shocked and very amused.

'Put it down to too much time spent in Duo's company. But it sounded like a Freudian slip to me.'

'A wholly innocent comment, misinterpreted by my boyfriend's filthy mind. I'm surprised at you!'

'Surprised in a good way?' Wufei asked coyly. He didn't think he'd ever done anything coyly in his life, but flirting like this was so much fun. He'd never thought of his mind as anything other than disciplined and ordered, certainly not filthy, but Zechs seemed to like the idea of it. And he'd said _my boyfriend_, and he found himself liking that description.

'A very good way, yes. Now, we _were _making arrangements for tonight, I believe.'

'I thought we'd finished with that. You get some food on your way back here, and call me when you're home.'

'You're bossy, aren't you?'

'When I want to be.' Wufei grinned. 'It comes with the profession, I'm afraid. I'm a very strict disciplinarian with my students.'

'Are you now? That sounds intriguing. Are you quite sure you're happy with that, though? I'd wanted us to do something more special than just eat at home. I don't want you to think we have to stay in, because I might be tired, if you'd really rather go out.'

'All I want is to spend some time with you,' Wufei said firmly, trying to decide if all this indecisiveness was endearing or annoying. Probably the former, since Zechs was obviously trying to please him. It was just a little irritating, though, that he wouldn't just accept that he meant what he said. 'Stop trying to second-guess me. I'm the one who suggested staying in in the first place. I wouldn't have done that if it wasn't what I wanted to do.'

'All right, all right. Hmmm, let's see. There's a full moon tonight. I know! How about you come over to my house at half eight? That should give me enough time to get everything set up.'

'Set up what?'

'It's a surprise. Wait and see.'

A surprise!

How old was the man; six? Surprises were for little children, not grown men.

They ended the conversation with that last comment, which left Wufei wondering dreamily what the surprise might be, while he tried to edit the latest chapter of his book. What did the full moon have to do with anything? Surely the man wasn't a werewolf? Trowa was a devotee of horror films and books; Wufei had no time for such nonsense but he knew that werewolves transformed at the full moon.

Oh, now, that was _ridiculous, _but no more ridiculous than what he'd just written.

He'd added Prince of Sanque to the list of the Chinese Emperor's titles, and described all imperial coronations as having taken place at the full moon.

Obviously, it was no use trying to work in this state of mind. Perhaps the moon was affecting him?

Seven o'clock was far too early, really, to start getting ready, but he decided to have a bath in place of his usual quick, efficient shower. It took almost fifteen minutes to fill the huge bathtub and he filled in the time by adding some of Quatre's scented toiletries to the steaming water, making a note of the products he'd used so he could replace them.

Trowa would laugh at him, lounging in a bubble bath like a girl and mentally running over the conversation he'd had with Zechs. He'd made him laugh a couple of times, and that felt surprisingly good. He'd never thought of himself as a particularly witty person, but he'd joked on the 'phone, and with Duo, come to think of it. Although it was hard to be serious in Duo's company.

He'd never thought he could spend a full hour bathing. It crossed his mind, climbing out and reaching for a towel, that it would be pleasant to share a bath with Zechs one day. Another thing he'd never done.

He dressed in a dark pair of jeans, and a shirt that Meiran had sent him for Christmas. He'd never worn it before; deeming the dark red silk as far too frivolous for a serious-minded person like him, but he'd packed it on a whim. It was the sort of thing that might be suitable in a foreign country, where nobody knew him. Looking at his image in the mirror, he almost considered taking his hair down as well. That would be much though. No point in going overboard.

Anyway, going on past experience, Zechs would try to loosen it as soon as they met, and he liked the feel of the other man's fingertips stroking the back of his neck, and running through his hair.

Right. That was everything. Or was it? His eyes drifted toward the top drawer of the small bedside table. Yes, they'd agreed to wait, but they were both adults. It might be practical to be prepared, just in case. Should he? Or would that be too forward? Probably. Anyway, Zechs was the sort of person to provide for any eventuality.

When Wufei walked up the drive, Zechs was standing by his front door , looking quite impossibly handsome, with that white-blond cascade falling loose over his shoulders. Oh, Lord, he wasn't drooling, was he?

'Nice to see you too,' Zechs observed. 'You look wonderful. Red suits you, you know.' He flicked one finger against Wufei's burning cheeks. 'I love the way you blush. Now, come on.'

'Oh!' Wufei's lips parted in a wide gasp as they walked on to the terrace. Zechs had placed strung coloured glass lanterns on every available surface, and strung more from the trees leading down to the sea. 'It's so strange. I _never _imagine things, and earlier today I was imagining I was a pirate, and now it's like I've just walked into a story.'

'A good story?'

'A romance. Very definitely. With a castle and a prince. A very handsome prince,' he added. For all that he'd teased Wufei earlier for blushing, Zechs looked just a little discomfited by that comment.

'And who are you in the story?'

'I'm not sure yet.' Wufei grinned suddenly. 'Perhaps a Chinese pirate?'

'I've heard about those.' Zechs paused for a moment, and Wufei stood gazing at him. He looked - Wufei groped for an appropriate word - other-worldly, with candle flames dancing in his eyes, and turning his hair to bright gold. 'Desperate characters, I believe, hell-bent on pillage and plunder. Should I be worried?'

'Perhaps.' With Zechs standing a step below him, they were almost equal in height. And a little pillaging was suddenly a very attractive option. The kiss was deep and demanding and almost rough, at the start, and then the other man just melted against him.

Zechs sighed slightly as Wufei pulled back, running his tongue across the tall man's lower lip. 'If that's a foretaste of being pillaged, then I think I'm going to like it.' He took Wufei's hand and led him down another flight of steps, pausing at the bottom.

'Can I ask you a favour? Please? I'd like you to close your eyes for a few minutes.'

'Close my eyes? Why?'

'Because I have a surprise for you. It's something I want you to see at exactly the right moment. Please? If you feel at all uncomfortable, of course you can open them.'

'Oh.' Wufei considered the idea. It wasn't, really, something he felt at all comfortable with. But he trusted Zechs, and didn't want to disappoint him.

'You don't have to,' Zechs said uncertainly, tightening his hold on Wufei's fingers. 'Really, it was just a silly idea I had. Forget it.'

'It's fine.' He gave the blond man a resolute smile and shut his eyes. 'I don't have to walk down any more steps, do I?'

'No, we're going into the garden. The ground is a little uneven so we'll go slowly, all right? Just follow me. I won't let you fall.'

Wufei nodded, keeping his eyes firmly shut. He didn't like this, not at all. The ground felt rough under his feet; but he forced himself to concentrate on Zechs' voice, and the other man's arm around his waist.

'All right,' Zechs said finally. 'We're going to sit down now. There's a blanket just at your feet. Yes, that's it.'

'May I look now?'

'Just one minute. Listen first.'

He could hear a faint breeze sighing through trees, and running water close by and the distant surge of the sea. An exploring finger found that they were sitting on some sort of nubby woollen blanket, and then worked up, finding warm skin under the cool linen of Zechs' shirt. They were sitting so closely he could feel the other man's body heat, feel a few strands of hair tickling his cheek.

When Zechs told him he could open his eyes, he did so reluctantly. He opened them to a world composed entirely of shades of black and white, washed with liquid silver from the moon.

'It's called a moon garden,' Zechs told him quietly. 'It's at its best on nights like this. The flowers and water are supposed to reflect the moonlight, without any artificial light. I hoped you'd like it.'

'It's wonderful! How in the world did you think I'd prefer eating in a restaurant to seeing this?'

'Oddly enough, it's what most people would prefer. A little smile drifted around the corners of his mouth. 'Don't say you're not _most people_. I know that. It's why we're here now. But I would have taken, ahem, _brought _you here after dinner anyway.'

'I wouldn't be entirely averse to the first option, you know.' Wufei laced the fingers on one hand with Zechs. He was being terribly forward, not at all like his usual self. He was enjoying himself. 'After dinner.'

'Is that so?'

The sleek, dark head nodded.

'Food first, then,' the prince decided, opening the picnic basket and removing a selection of cold meats, cheeses, bread and salad.

'Are _all _the flowers white?' Wufei asked around a mouthful of cheese.

'Not all, no. Some are pale yellow or pink or blue; they're all pastel colours. I think this is one of my favourite places in the world. I started planning it when I first came to live here; it still needs a little work.'

'Do you only come here when the moon is full?'

'No; it's just when I like it best. Sometimes, I set up lanterns down here or sometimes it's nice to sit in the darkness, and listen to the water and smell the flowers. It's a good place to meditate, or just sit and think.'

'Is meditation on the agenda for tonight, then?'

'Probably not.' Zechs cut him a thick wedge off the loaf, smeared it with paté , and handed it over. 'You're probably much more disciplined than I am, for that sort of thing, but I would find it very difficult to concentrate with you sitting so close to me.'

'It would probably be a good exercise in self control, don't you think?' Wufei took a large bite, closing his eyes to better savour the taste. The bread was delicious; crusty on the outside and soft and doughy inside, contrasting perfectly with the rich, smooth topping. A lesson he'd learned tonight; sometimes sensations were more intense without sight.

'What I think,' the blond glanced up from pouring two glasses of wine, 'is that self control is terribly over-rated sometimes.'

In any other circumstances, Wufei would have thought a statement like that nothing short of blasphemous. These weren't usual circumstances, though. He was in a magical, moonlit garden with a handsome prince. Setting down his glass carefully, he twisted his head back and pressed his mouth over Zechs'. This time, the kiss was rich and warm and redolent of the wine. There was alcohol and desire and joy singing along his nerves, and making his whole body thrum in response .

'Mmm.' There was a little patch of skin on the right side of Zechs' neck, just above the collarbone that was quite extraordinarily sensitive. He attacked it again with little, biting nips and gentle dabs of his tongue and Zechs fell backwards. There had been reasons why they'd agreed to take things slowly. They'd been good ones. They were all just totally irrelevant right now.

He wanted Zechs to make _that _sound, so deep in his throat, again. Nothing else really mattered.

'I appear to be in your power.' Zechs smiled up at him, apparently quite enjoying the change in their positions. It was rather a heady feeling to be on top, actually, with that beautiful man squirming against him. His jaw and neck, when Wufei pressed his lips to them, were slightly damp and salty. Delicious, when he fastened his lips around skin and suckled.

He worked his way a little further down, fingers working at shirt buttons, and mouth worshipping the newly presented skin.

Trowa had never liked being touched there; Zechs manifestly did, groaning and arching back against Wufei's mouth. And it felt so _good_, brushing his lips and flicking his tongue against that little piece of rose-pink flesh, and feeling it harden under his attentions. Even a waft of breath made him shudder, and produced a little pimpling of flesh, and stirred the fine, pale hairs on his chest.

'Oh, God.' Zechs' voice was somewhere between a prayer and a curse. 'If you keep doing that, I'm going to embarrass myself very badly.'

'I thought you'd have better staying power,' Wufei remarked, utterly delighted with the effect he was having on the body beneath him. They were still fully clothed, and he'd never been so aroused in his life, and Zechs seemed to be just as bad.

'I think you underestimate your own powers of seduction.'

'Am I seducing you?'

'Very powerfully, yes.' Zechs struggled to sit up, loose shirt falling off his shoulders and all that hair in the most glorious disarray.

'Should I stop?'

'Perhaps.' Wufei's face fell, fingers stilling in the act of stroking that perfect chest. 'Just for one second. I think we need to talk about something.'

'What is it? Did I hurt you?'

'No. Of course you didn't. But we agreed to wait, didn't we?'

Oh, that. Well, they had agreed. At least, Zechs had suggested it, and Wufei had agreed with him. It had made some sort of sense then, to get to know each other before anything happened. He'd even had a fleeting thought of gratitude that Zechs obviously wanted to be with him for more than sex.

'Um. Why was that again?'

'I'm sure… we had reasons.' Zechs' voice was a ragged, tattered travesty of his usual smooth tones. Wufei couldn't help feeling just a little bit smug at that. It was _his _doing. It possibly wasn't fair to touch him like that when he was trying to have a serious discussion, but it just felt so _good _to tangle his fingers in that long, pale hair.

'I think they are all soluble in moonlight.' Wufei bent to drop a delicate kiss on the corner of the other man's mouth. 'I can't remember any of them. Can you?'

'No! God, no. But I don't have anything with me. Do you?'

It took a full minute for the meaning of that to sink in. 'Oh! No. I don't either. But …I haven't been with anyone since Trowa. I had a full medical before coming here.'

'I'm clean too, but I don't have any lube.' He smiled ruefully. 'I did think about it, but it seemed far too presumptuous.'

Wufei snorted, mouth twitching with sheer amusement. 'You've brought me to what is possibly the most sensual place on the entire planet. It might have been practical to be prepared for the consequences.'

'You weren't very prepared either, were you? I'd offer to go back to the house, but I don't think my legs would carry me that far.'

Wufei chuckled, snuggling against him. 'You'd have to carry me too. I'm not letting you out of my sight for so long. Do you think we could find something else to do instead? We could always meditate.'

'Meditate on this then,' Zechs growled, and Wufei suddenly found himself flat on his back, with warm, teasing fingers stroking between his legs.

'Oh!' His hips were thrusting up into that touch, but it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy. There were too many layers of clothing in the way, and Zechs' hand was maddeningly gentle.

'I do like that sound,' Zechs remarked. 'Can I make you do that again? Oh, yes, just like that.'

'Are you planning on doing something about this?' he demanded, rearing forward and pressing into Zechs' hand. 'Or do I have to take matters into my own hands? So to speak.' Oh, God, he couldn't believe he'd actually said that.

'Hmm.' Those blue eyes, the colour of twilight in the near-darkness, gleamed delightedly. 'What a choice. I'd _love _to watch you pleasure yourself but then I would be failing in my duties as your host.'

'Can't have that,' Wufei muttered dazedly. This was far, far too much for a rather sheltered young man. All of it was too much; the garden and its owner and the things he said, and the things he was currently doing.

Obeying a light tap, Wufei lifted his hips and felt Zechs tug off his jeans and underwear, and nuzzle gently between his legs.

'Oh.' It was a long gasp of rapidly spiralling pleasure. Zechs was so _very _good at this and he even seemed to be genuinely enjoying it, taking Wufei greedily down his throat as if he couldn't have enough of him and then pulling back and lavishing him with tongue and lips.

'Sorry,' he muttered, mortified. 'I never meant to, you know. I should have warned you.'

'Warned me about what?' Zechs lifted his head slightly. Somewhere along the way, he'd found his own pleasure; Wufei could see a dark stain between his legs. 'That you're utterly intoxicating? Because it's far too late, if so. I'm already addicted.'

'I - no. What? Am I?' Damnation. It was hard to form any sort of coherent sentence with Zechs lying between his legs like that, and his mouth still very pleasurably occupied, and saying things like that to him. It was hard to imagine why he would even want to use speech at a time like this.

'God, yes.' Zechs pressed a trail of butterfly kisses all the way down Wufei's thigh and smiled up at him. 'I'm now officially a Wufei addict. Please don't tell me you you've suddenly stopped respecting me.'

Wufei shook his head, aware that he was probably grinning like a lunatic. He'd come in Zechs' mouth, something that Trowa had never let him do, and Zechs didn't mind in the least. Nor did he apparently mind that Wufei had just lain there and not got around to reciprocating.

And he'd been called _intoxicating _for the first time ever.

Intoxicating; that was an appropriate word to describe the whole night. The moonlight and the man beside him, and the heady fragrance of hundreds of blossoms, stirred by the breeze. So very many sensations that Wufei was afraid he'd faint. In the back of his mind he took solace knowing Zechs would be there to revive him and he threw himself into the kiss with all the passion he could muster.


	8. Chapter 8

-1Disclaimer: they don't belong to me, and I don't get any profit out of this, just boundless entertainment.

Note: Thanks to KS for proofing this and to everyone who has been reviewing.

**Chapter 8:**

It had _seemed _like a such a good idea at the time.

He hadn't seen Wufei at all the previous day. He had turned down an invitation to accompany Zechs to a rare plant nursery outside Cadiz, meaning that the blond had spent every inch of the long drive fretting over whether Wufei had really wanted to work, as he'd claimed, or whether he just didn't want to a full day with Zechs.

It had _seemed _a good idea, this morning, to invite him for breakfast, and then maybe see if it would be possible to distract him a little. Or at least to talk. He knew, because Duo had mentioned it casually, that the pair of them had planned a trip into Marbella that afternoon. It had stung, just a little, that Wufei apparently had no problem taking time away from his precious papers to spend time with Duo.

Still, perhaps it meant that he would be in a more relaxed frame of mind, and amenable to playing hooky for an hour or so.

Wufei, however, had arrived equipped with his laptop and a bag of books. Having finished breakfast, he'd immediately installed himself at a small desk and proceeded to turn on the former, arrange the latter in neat piles, and immerse himself in both.

Not precisely what Zechs had planned. Still, it maybe wasn't a bad idea. He did have plans to draw up for his latest client; for once, he could have them done early rather than having to stay up half the night.

It would be sensible to do that, except how was he supposed to do anything with that entrancing young man so close?

It didn't help that he'd had almost no sleep over the previous two nights. When he hadn't been reliving every second of their evening together in the moon-garden, he'd been agonising that he'd done something wrong. That he'd somehow rushed Wufei; that he hadn't gone far enough to please him; that the other man had been offended, somehow, by something Zechs had done.

The rational part of him claimed that didn't make any sense, though. Wufei hadn't seemed remotely offended after their date in the moon garden. He'd turned down Zechs' offer to stay the night, to save him the long trek next door, but he'd done it with a kiss, and he'd been perfectly pleasant on the 'phone when Zechs had rung him earlier.

God. He hadn't worried this much over a partner since, well, since Treize.

There had been other men since then; of course, there had. Too many of them, if he wanted to be honest with himself, in particular in that first year after the break-up. Attractive charming young men who'd moved easily in and out of his life and his bed and never caused him a moment's thought.

He hadn't felt strongly for any one of them. He hadn't permitted himself to. Having one's heart broken, very comprehensively, didn't really encourage one to go out and seek a repeat of the experience.

And then he'd met this intense, darkly beautiful young man, who was still so very much a stranger, but whom he wanted so very badly.

They'd made easy, rather impersonal conversation over breakfast, and then moved into the library where Wufei had immersed himself in that towering pile of books. And Zechs had spent his time stealing surreptitious glances at his guest.

That lovely jet-black hair was tied back a little less tightly than usual, a few silken wisps floating around his face, and stirring slightly with every light breeze, or every movement of his head. There was one particularly rebellious lock, just above his right ear, that kept drifting free, and Zechs simply ached to touch it, to curl it around one finger and watch it spring loose..

And Wufei kept raising one slender hand to push back those ridiculously adorable glasses that he had perched on his nose.

Oh, this was hard.

Zechs grimaced at the word, crossing his legs decisively. Wufei didn't seem remotely affected by his presence, absorbed in some long-lost empire, and that didn't help either.

At this rate, he was going to need a cold shower very soon, or at the very least, something very cold to drink.

'I'm going to get a drink for myself. Would you like one?' He had to repeat the question twice before Wufei glanced up.

'Yes, please.'

When he came back, holding two brimming glasses, Wufei was bent over the plans on his drawing board, apparently fascinated.

'This is nothing like I'd imagined.'

'What had you imagined?' Zechs grinned at him. 'A pretty watercolour with lots of flowers.'

'Something like that,' the other man admitted. 'This looks like an architect's plan.'

'Think of it as just that, but outside.' Zechs set his glass on the desk. Oh, God. He'd fallen so hard for this one, with his exotic beauty and his intelligence and those flashes of wit that seemed to surprise even himself. One long, golden finger traced the outline of his designs; the self-same finger that had touched him last night.

He wanted it again, so badly.

'What have I done wrong?' he blurted suddenly.

'I'm not sure that I understand.' Wufei's eyes, lifted from the desk to meet his, were clear and candid and a little curious.

'If I've done something to upset you, I wish you'd tell me.'

'Of course you haven't upset me!' Those dark eyes, fixed on his, were very wide. 'I wasn't sure if I'd done something. You've been very quiet since I got here.' One shoulder lifted in an impossibly graceful shrug. 'I didn't want to disturb your work, so I thought perhaps I should leave you in peace.'

Zechs smiled at him, a smile of pure relief. Maybe one day they'd get this communication thing right. 'I was terrified of disturbing that ferocious concentration of yours. I thought I'd get a detention at the very least, if not a slap on the wrist.'

'Well, I could probably give you a slap if you really wanted one,' Wufei mused, and then looked surprised and just a little shocked at what he'd just said.

'We're a right pair, aren't we?' Sure, now, that he wouldn't be rebuffed, Zechs succumbed to temptation and brushed that wandering lock of hair behind Wufei's ear. The other man's mouth curved into a smile, and he leaned into Zechs' hand. 'Forgive me? I'm a little rusty at this sort of thing.'

'I find that hard to believe,' Wufei said frankly. 'Sorry! I'm not doubting you, but you're so….ahem, well, it's hard to believe why someone like you would be single.'

With anyone else, he would have murmured something charming and complimentary about how he'd been waiting for exactly the right person. Wufei deserved more than that.

'I've had one long term boyfriend who broke my heart when he left, a not very commendable period of sleeping around for a year or so afterwards, and then a few short term relationships which didn't work out.'

'Why did he leave? The long term one?'

'He was offered a very good job in the United States. He's a lawyer; he spent some months working as a liaison with the American Embassy in Madrid, and they offered him a permanent position in Washington.'

'You didn't think about going with him?'

'I might have, if I'd been asked.' It was still there; the old bitterness, even after so many years. Four now, almost. 'He just assumed I would accompany him. Perhaps if he'd given me the choice, or even talked about it with me, I'd have considered it. I was just presented with a one-way ticket and informed that _we _were moving to another continent. The thing is, a couple of years earlier, I'd probably have done it. He was older; we'd been together since we were young. I suppose I was accustomed to him being the one to take control.'

'You seem quite good at making your own decisions.'

'Well, I've changed in the past few years. Anyway, I'd just started my own landscaping business; I didn't want to walk out on that. And we'd been having problems; I won't go into all of that, but Treize liked to be in charge. He wasn't very keen when I began to take over my own life a little.'

'That was it? He left and you never saw him again?'

'Not quite, no. We tried to do the long distance thing for a few months, then he met someone else and that was that.'

'I'm sorry.' Those beautiful dark eyes were warm with compassion. 'That must have been so very hard for you.'

'At the time, yes. Treize was my first love, my first lover. We'd been close friends for years, before anything else happened. He'd been there for me when my parents died. I'd got into the habit of depending on him, probably too much.'

'Do you still love him?'

'No.' Zechs smiled faintly. 'Is that direct enough for you? I did, once, but I promise, it's over. And you? If you don't mind talking about it,' he added, when Wufei didn't immediately answer.

'I don't mind. There just isn't an awful lot to tell. A few very short term boyfriends when I was a student, and then Trowa.' He paused, taking off his glasses and sliding them into his shirt pocket. 'Since we said we would be honest with each other, I have to tell you this. I'm not sure if I'm entirely over him, as they say.'

Zechs nodded; it wasn't entirely unexpected.

'This …. thing, between us.' The young man spread his hands confusedly, and his voice rose, almost to a wail. 'I don't understand it. We've only just _met_. I'm not used to reacting like this to someone, to a stranger.'

'How are you reacting, exactly?'

'You _know_.' Wufei glared at him; he was just too cute when he did that, with wisps of hair floating against the smooth skin of his cheeks, and that lovely mouth pulled into a thinly disapproving line.

'Like this?' They were standing close enough that Zechs just had to lean forward to kiss him, making it long and lazy and very thorough.

'Yes, well, exactly like that,' Wufei flustered; he didn't draw away though.

'Were you thinking of Trowa while I was kissing you?' Zechs took advantage of that preoccupation to pull of the nasty little hair elastic, letting all those glorious waves of ebony silk spill over his shoulders. So much better…

'I most certainly was _not,' _he snapped indignantly.

'That's good. Sweetheart, what exactly is bothering you most? That you might still have feelings for Trowa or that you're attracted to me?'

'Both, really.' Those lovely cheeks warmed slightly; either at the endearment, or the question, but he answered doggedly. 'I don't want you to think that I'm, well, that I'm leading you on or something, while I still have … while I still like my ex boyfriend.'

'I don't think that at all. It's perfectly natural that you still have some sort of feelings for Trowa; you were together for a long time, and you're still friends. I rather envy you that, actually. Treize and I didn't part terribly well.'

Wufei shrugged. 'I suppose it was a fairly amicable separation, as such things go. There was no one else involved at the start; we still saw one another a great deal, and I thought that we'd get back together at some point.' He shrugged. 'Then he got involved with Quatre and that was that.'

'It wasn't Quatre's fault,' Zechs said quietly.

'Oh, I _know _that. It would have been someone else, if not him, I'm sure.' He closed both hands around his glass. 'I spoke to my cousin Meiran this morning. I told her a little about you.'

'What did she say?'

'She was delighted. She thinks it's high time I moved on and forgot Trowa.'

'Didn't she like him?'

Wufei nodded. 'They were good friends, actually. She just never thought he was right for me.' He took a sip of his drink. 'She had all sorts of silly girly notions about romance and how a couple should behave if they're in love.' He gave Zechs a sharp glance. 'She didn't think Trowa lived up to any of that.'

'I suppose the important thing is whether _you _thought that,' Zechs said gently.

'I was happy; I thought we were well suited. Even if we didn't do a lot of, well, romantic things, I suppose. And that wasn't Trowa's fault; he's a good person.' He shot Zechs a quick look, daring him to disagree.

Zechs nodded, liking the way he defended his ex. It was rather refreshing. 'I know, I've met him, remember? If you don't mind me saying this, perhaps you're better suited as good friends than lovers? It doesn't mean that you can't be happy with somebody else.'

'With you?'

Zechs sighed faintly, sinking back into his chair. 'Wufei, has anyone ever told you that extreme candour of yours can be a little disconcerting? You know I can't answer that, not yet. It's far too soon. All I can say is that the attraction between us is very definitely real and mutual and I haven't stopped thinking about you since we met. It's a very long time since I've felt this strongly about someone. I'm as much at a loss as you are, if that helps at all?'

'Perhaps,' Wufei whispered, giving one of his decisive little nods. 'It does a little, actually, knowing I'm not the only one who is … feeling like this.' Reaching down to tangle both hands in the silky blond hair, he slipped onto Zechs' lap, sliding his mouth over his.

'You don't think I'm too easy?' the blond teased. 'I did say I'd prefer to wait a little while, for us to know each other.'

'I don't think you're easy at all. In fact,' one hand slid down between them, gently fondling between Zechs' legs, 'I think you have the potential to be just the opposite.' He laughed suddenly. 'Where are all these corny lines coming from? I've probably absorbed them from Duo, by osmosis.'

'And would you be remotely interested in exploring that potential?' Zechs gazed up at him, mouth curling into a smile to let Wufei know he was carrying on the pun.

'Possibly,' Wufei teased back, pushing Zechs back into his chair and sliding on top of him. 'I could be very tempted indeed.'

'Yeah, looks that way all right,' a cheerful voice observed from the doorway. Duo was watching them with a broad grin on his face. 'Ooops. Looks like I should have knocked there. Sorry.'

He didn't look remotely sorry, curse him. Wufei, on the other hand, turned every imaginable shade of red and stumbled off Zechs' lap.

'Oh, don't mind me,' Duo said brightly. He wasn't remotely discomfited by any of this, which Wufei would probably take to mean that it was a regular occurrence for him to walk in on Zechs with someone. Damn. 'Hey, Wufei. I guessed you'd be here if you weren't at home. I've been trying to call you all morning; your cell-phone must be on the fritz or something.'

Wufei, colour returning slightly to normal, retreated behind his phalanx of books for safety, looking like he wanted to disappear inside one of them. 'I called my cousin in Australia this morning and used up all my credit. I thought you were out on the boat until lunchtime?'

'Customers got seasick so we called it short,' Duo informed him. 'I thought we might head off to Marbella early; do the shopping and then grab something to eat.' He winked. 'That is, if you're still interested in coming with me. If you'd rather stay here, I'll totally understand. I wouldn't bother going myself except I've been told that I need to wear something conservative and smart for Heero's presentation on Friday, and not show off too much skin.'

'That must cut out most of your wardrobe then,' Zechs gibed, stealing a look at Wufei. Duo's chatter seemed to be relaxing him a little; at the least, he no longer looked as if he might burst into flames from sheer embarrassment.

'Pretty much,' the long-haired man agreed amiably. 'Wufei, you're coming to the party on Friday, right? Cool! Oh, Zechs, d'you mind if I borrow your car for a couple of hours? Heero had a load of samples to take into work with him, so he brought ours. '

'Of course you can.'

'Cheers.' Duo perched on the edge of Wufei's desk, flicking one finger against the other man's loose hair. 'Your hair looks great down, you know. You should have it like that more often. Now, I'm going to run up and take a shower, if that's OK, 'cause our water tank is on the blink as usual, and you two can decide if you want to run into town with me or stay here and carry on with whatever you were doing. I promise, I'll knock before I come back in so don't feel you have to behave yourselves for my sake!'

'Oh dear,' Wufei muttered, burying his head in both hands. 'One of these days, I swear I am going to spontaneously combust from the things he says.'

'Exactly,' Zechs said softly. 'Wufei, is there any point in me telling you that I don't make a practice of this sort of thing? Or at least, I haven't lately. The one time I do, Duo bloody Maxwell has to walk in on me.'

'Of course I believe you.' Wufei flashed him a small grin. 'Would you mind very much if I asked you to buy a very large padlock for your front door?'

'Not at all,' Zechs promised, deciding not to share that locks wouldn't be much of a barrier for Duo in any case. 'I'll get one the next time I'm in town. Do you want to go with him today?'

Wufei hesitated. 'There are a few things I need to buy that the local shops don't sell. That's why I agreed to go with him in the first place. I suppose nothing is terribly urgent, though. I don't know; perhaps you'd prefer me to go and have a little time alone to think about all of this?'

'I absolutely don't want you to go,' Zechs said, very firmly. 'I don't want you ever to go. But I have work to go and I shan't do a tap if you're here to distract me.'

'You're an awful hypocrite,' Wufei teased. Thank all the gods in creation, he stood up and slid back on top of Zechs' again, teeth nipping at the pulse point in Zech's throat. It almost undid him; that little friction that fluttered down every nerve ending in his body. It made him want to sweep Wufei upstairs and consign Duo and his designs and the rest of the world to perdition.

He'd apparently forgotten all about inconvenient ex-boyfriends; forgotten that this sort of attraction had been bothering him. 'You're always telling me I need to relax.'

'I am, aren't I?' Zechs threw his head back, offering his throat to Wufei's warm, suckling mouth. 'But I need to have this ready to be couriered to a client by tomorrow morning. If I could have a couple of uninterrupted hours to work, I could be finished by the time you come home. Then I can have the whole evening to spend with you. Would that do?'

'I suppose I could accept that.' The kisses slowly drifted along his jaw, each one delicate as the brush of a butterfly's wings, just skirting the corner of his mouth. 'One question. How long does Duo normally take in the shower?'

'You've seen how much hair he has.' Zechs groaned as Wufei's tongue probed sweetly between his lips. 'At least thirty minutes. Probably longer. Plenty of time.'

'Plenty of time for what exactly?' Wufei teased, lifting his head in an act of utter, wanton cruelty.

'For absolutely anything you like.' Zechs meant it in all sincerity; if Wufei just wanted to stay on his lap and kiss him, that would be fine. Even if it meant he had to spend an hour standing under a cold shower afterwards.

'I don't think thirty minutes will be time enough for everything I'd like.' Wufei rubbed that delicious body against him. 'And it certainly wouldn't be enough to clean up, and get changed before Duo comes down.'

'He's been known to take very long showers.' It came out as a ragged, breathy gasp. It was just too much, all of it. That mouth on him, and the irresistible hardness thrusting against his own erection, and those slender, talented hands sliding under his shirt.

'Long is…good.' Wufei's voice wasn't much steadier than his, but the fingers sliding under his waistband and fondling between his legs were firm and knowing and almost too pleasurable to be borne, especially when that lush, lovely mouth brushed over his, and his lovely Chinese pirate set to pillaging in earnest.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own neither Gundam Wing nor Dunnes Stores (although I do shop there)

Many thanks to KS for reading over, and to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. Much appreciated!

**Chapter 9:**

Much to Wufei's surprise, Duo didn't mention the incident once as they drove off. He apparently preferred music to conversation in a car; not the style of music that Wufei would have chosen, but he was so grateful not to be teased that he was quite willing to put up with Duo's taste.

That had possibly been of the more mortifying experiences of his whole life; even more so than the time when he'd confused two emperors of the Ming dynasty in front of a whole class.

Only the fact that Zechs had obviously been just as embarrassed, and that Duo had been fairly blasé about it all, had kept him from running away as fast as he could. It had been awful though; he'd been behaving in that distressingly uninhibited fashion, sprawled all over Zechs and more wanton than he'd probably ever been in his life - certain episodes in the moon garden excepted - and he'd had an audience.

How shaming, to be caught comporting himself like that.

He caught a glimpse of himself in the wing mirror as Duo slowed down, entering the city limits of Marbella. Oh dear. He didn't look remotely shamed or chastened. There was actually a faint smile picking up one corner of his mouth, which was itself more swollen than usual, and the unmistakable beginnings of a love-bite blooming on his throat. Duo had taken an inordinately long time in the shower, long enough to wash his hair three times over, and he and Zechs hadn't wasted a minute.

He looked like someone who'd very recently had sex. He looked happy. And he and Zechs were planning to spend the evening together; perhaps the night also. Perhaps they'd make love properly this time, once he'd bolted every door in the house, and made sure that Zechs had plenty of lubricant to hand. On his hands.

Oh, this had _got _to stop.

Wrenching his mind brutally away from those appealing fantasies, Wufei forced himself to take notice of the outside world.

'Dunnes Stores?' He asked as Duo pulled into the car park of a large department store. 'That doesn't sound very Spanish.'

'It's Irish, actually, but they have a few branches in the south of Spain. The quality's good, but still cheap. It's a great place to get casual stuff if you need anything. Heero shops here a lot; it's all pretty conservative.'

He hadn't planned on buying clothes, but maybe another couple of pairs of shorts would come in useful. And a couple of loose t-shirts, if he planned to help Duo on the boat.

He had collected a few garments by the time he met up with Duo at the changing rooms. The other man, who was obviously some sort of shopaholic, had a pair of dark trousers slung over one shoulder, and an armful of other, brightly coloured clothes. 'I thought you said you only needed one thing.'

'I do.' Duo dumped the tangle of garments into his arms. 'This is stuff I picked out for you.'

'That wasn't necessary. I don't need that many things and in any case I'm more than capable of choosing my own clothes.'

Duo rolled his eyes. 'Actually, I'm not so sure about that. All those things you picked up are at least one size too big, and most of them are the colour of regurgitated porridge. Seriously, it wouldn't kill you to wear something bright for a change.'

'I do, sometimes,' Wufei retorted. Well, he had worn that red shirt. 'Duo, I don't need help with how to dress.'

The braided man just grinned at him. 'Tell you what? I'll make a deal with you. You try on a couple of the things I picked out and if you totally hate them, we'll forget about the whole thing. OK?'

'If it stops you nagging me, fine.' Wufei made a great effort to sound exasperated with his new friend, which he wasn't, really, being just a little tempted by the colourful offerings Duo had produced. Since he was changing so many things about his life, perhaps it was time to change his wardrobe.

The clothes he possessed roughly fell into two categories. The loose, Chinese style tunics and trousers that he wore for exercise or when he was at home, or the sober, conservative outfits he chose for work, and which were designed to make him look older than he really was.

It might be fun to wear something bright and casual for once.

Fun. That word again. He was turning into one of those hedonistic people who seemed to live for pleasure alone. But surely it couldn't hurt to indulge himself for a couple of days? Just for a week? By Monday, he would be refreshed after his little holiday and more than willing to throw himself back into his work.

The shorts were surprisingly modest, given the sort of things that Duo wore. They were a little too close-fitting, but the next size up would be perfect and he rather liked all the zips and pockets. The red t-shirt hadn't looked fitted on the hanger, but it was made of cotton blended with some clingy synthetic material that hugged his body. It wasn't particularly indecent, just more immodest than he really liked.

Zechs has said that red suited him, though, and perhaps it was more acceptable to wear these sort of clothes in such a hot climate.

Duo, who was lounging against a full-length mirror and talking to the assistant, whistled as Wufei walked out. 'Whee! So that's what you were hiding under all that baggy stuff? Very nice! Now, tell me you don't like the way you look.'

Wufei gave his reflection in the glass a half smile. 'I do like it. But I need a larger size in the shorts.'

'No _way_. You have a seriously great ass, and it deserves to be shown off.' He grinned at the shop assistant and said something in Spanish, something the Chinese man was rather glad he couldn't understand.

'Duo!' Wufei felt himself go as red as his shirt, as the rather good-looking assistant gave him an openly appraising smile.

'Yeah? What? I swear, it's crime against humanity; the gay, male part of it anyway, not to show that body off a little bit. You look amazing. And Zechsy loves red. He'll be all over you.'

Wufei sniffed. 'I'm not buying clothes for the express purpose of pleasing him.' The prospect of Zechs being _all over him _was rather pleasing though. No. He quashed the beginnings of that thought. He was _not _going to be that superficial.

''Course you're not. If you were, you'd be going to Armani or somewhere.' He passed Wufei a pair of cropped linen pants and a dark purple shirt. 'Try these. But what's wrong with wearing something your boyfriend is going to like?'

'It's something women do.'

'Pretty sexist, aren't you? Seriously, Wufei, you look great. Very classy and sexy at the same time. Zechs is going to love the new look.'

'He does like red,' Wufei murmured, remembering the warmly admiring look in those blue eyes when he'd turned up in the red silk shirt. He'd liked that. And Zechs would probably like this outfit too.

'It's OK,' Duo said softly. 'There's nothing wrong with wanting to look good for someone, you know. And it's nice to get a buzz out of them looking at you.'

'I suppose.' He'd never thought of it like that before. Maybe Duo was right? 'Is that why you dress the way you do? For Heero?'

'Are you kidding? If Heero had his way, I'd never go out in public unless I was wearing a chastity belt and a burka or something.' He grinned, striking a pose against the mirror he was leaning on. 'Doesn't stop him looking, though. And I prefer his eyes to be on my ass when we're out than ogling some other guy. Now, are you going to try the rest of this stuff or am I going to have to come in with you and help you undress?'

'I've never bought so many clothes in my life,' Wufei said, almost an hour later, as they walked out, both swinging full carrier bags. He'd kept on the first outfit he'd tried, and was feeling just a little self-conscious about it. Out of the air-conditioned shop, the t-shirt was moulding itself to his chest even more, and he was uncomfortably of his nipples against the soft fabric.

'They all really suit you, and you didn't spend that much. Now, you want to get something to eat? There's a nice Italian place down by the harbour; it's a bit pricy but the scenery's great.'

'The scenery is beautiful everywhere here, I think,' Wufei commented as they headed down to the port. 'I still can't believe how blue the sea is.'

'Oh, yeah,' Duo glanced at him, eyes brimming with mischief. 'That wasn't exactly what I meant, though it is pretty. This is where all the rich guys who tie their yachts up at the dock hang out and try to pick up the local talent. I bet we could score a couple of billionaires in ten seconds if we wanted.'

'I don't want to do anything of the sort!'

'Well, duh. Neither do I. But there's no point putting on all that snazzy new stuff if no one gets to admire it. Come _on_,' he gave Wufei a nudge with one elbow. 'It'll be fun. Listen, how's this for a plan? Whichever of us gets hit on first buys the other one lunch.'

'Oh, all right,' Wufei said resignedly. He already had a fair idea that his new friend was used to getting his own way, and he certainly wasn't going to stand arguing in the middle of the street. It was a safe bet anyway; no one was going to look at him in Duo's company.

He lost the bet. On the plus side, he was the recipient of a bottle of vintage champagne, some very fulsome compliments from a rather attractive German, and the offer of a trip to Antigua by yacht.

'Told you you'd have no problem picking up guys!' Duo crowed cheerfully. 'Now, look me in the eye and tell me that wasn't a nice little ego boost.'

Wufei took a sip of champagne; he didn't really like the stuff, but it was a shame not to taste it at least. 'All right,' he said frankly. 'It was. Duo, I _never _do things like this. Never. I've never had a total stranger buy me drinks, and, well, proposition me like that.'

'Seriously?' Duo stared at him. 'Sorry, but are the all the guys where you live blind or something? You've got a _great _body; you've got this whole exotic Asian thing going on for you. I swear, you could have any guy in this restaurant if you just flicked your hair back and batted your eyelashes at him.'

'Duo, _stop_.' Wufei was suddenly, scorchingly crimson. 'You can't say things like that!'

'Why not?' His friend looked honestly bemused, violet eyes wide. 'It's true. Listen, you do actually know that you're gorgeous, right?'

'I'm nothing of the sort!'

'Oh boy.' Duo leant back, tilting his chair at what looked like a dangerous angle, with a smile slowly spreading over his face. 'Where exactly am I going to start? Don't they have mirrors where you come from? Or do you have some religious objection to looking at yourself in them?'

'No,' Wufei muttered, taking a gulp of champagne in the hope that it would cool him down a bit. It didn't work. All those ridiculous bubbles went zinging straight to his brain, flooding the carefully cultivated, logical part, and letting all his carefully hoarded insecurities surge free. 'I'm not gorgeous, as you put it. I'm too short; my mouth is too big for my face and I've got eyelashes like a girl. '

Duo just lay there, laughing at him. 'God, you actually mean that, don't you? If you've got all these physical defects, why don't you tell me just how come you've had no less than five men zooming in on you the minute we walked in this door? How come you've got Zechs literally panting at your feet for a little attention?'

'It's not just physical with Zechs,' Wufei said doggedly.

'Yeah, I know.' Duo reached out and patted his arm. 'I know it's not. But I swear, he likes the way you look. He really likes it.' He frowned suddenly. 'Did Trowa never tell you that you were madly attractive?'

'Oh!' The blush had almost faded; that comment made it surge back to his cheeks. 'Maybe, when we first got together, but I used to get embarrassed and he stopped eventually.' He stared down at his plate, surprised by a little sting of guilt; he'd never told Trowa he was attractive either. He'd tried to show it, though, and anyway Trowa was well aware of how handsome he was.

Or maybe he wasn't.

The last time he'd had dinner with Trowa and Quatre, a week before he'd flown to Spain, the blond had enthused over a new jacket that Trowa was wearing, over the fact that he'd had his hair trimmed a little. At the time, Wufei had thought it ridiculous, but looking back, Trowa had been quietly pleased by the attention. Gods, what a fool he'd been.

No wonder Trowa had left.

'Hey.' Duo's voice was very quiet, very serious. 'Wufei. I didn't mean to upset you. Whatever I said, I'm really sorry. My mouth just runs away with me sometimes.'

'It wasn't you.' Their food arrived, and they were both silent while the waiters offered black pepper and parmesan and filled up their glasses. 'I was just thinking about Trowa. I was such a fool.'

'Don't talk like that. Maybe you made mistakes, but he was the one who left, right? His choice; he could've stayed and tried to sort out whatever he wasn't happy with. He didn't have to run off with the first blond he took a shine to.'

'I suppose,' Wufei admitted, poking at his chicken. He hadn't thought of that before; he was almost sure that Trowa had been happy enough with him. They'd never had arguments, the way some couples did; they'd allowed each other plenty of personal space and been careful not to make too many demands on the other.

Ugh. Of _course _they'd broken up.

'Everyone makes mistakes in relationships, you know,' Duo commented. 'You just have to move on and try not to make the same ones the second time 'round. I'm going to give you one little piece of advice; when Zechsy tells you how hot you're looking in those shorts, don't just brush him off, OK? Give him a nice big smooch and wiggle your ass a bit for him. And it wouldn't hurt for you to bend over in front of him a couple of times either, just to give him a whole other angle to drool over.'

'Have you appointed yourself as my relationships counsellor or something?' Wufei asked sourly. He certainly wasn't going to be bending over; well, maybe he was, later, but he could probably wiggle a little bit.

He was _not _going to repeat all the mistakes he'd made with Trowa.

'Not exactly. I just think it's high time you started to live a little bit,' Duo told him. 'I don't mean hooking up with strangers; just going and letting your hair down sometimes. Speaking of which, why don't you? It was loose this morning when I walked in on you guys.'

Wufei grunted. 'Don't you believe in knocking when you go into other people's houses?'

'Oh, yeah.' Duo tossed him a sheepish little grin. 'I should apologise for that, right? It's just Heero and I spend a lot of time there; it never occurred to me that I should knock. I will in future though. I'm really sorry if I embarrassed you.'

'You didn't seem particularly sorry at the time.'

'Nah. It was so cute! I don't think I've ever seen anybody move so fast as when you got off his lap. So, I'm guessing the date last night went well? Where did you go?'

Wufei nodded. 'It went very well. We actually stayed at home and had a picnic in Zechs' garden. The moon garden.'

Duo shivered slightly. 'I always think that place is kind of creepy. It's like the flowers are radioactive or something, the way they glow in the dark. It's Zechsy's special place though, pretty much. Did you like it?'

'I thought it was very romantic.' He stumbled a little bit over the last word, but Duo didn't even look from winding pasta around his fork, and that encouraged him to continue. 'I can see why he feels it's so special.'

'Yeah?' Duo glanced up, grinning. 'I don't actually get it myself, but if he brought you there, at the full moon and all, he must be really, really into you. Not that it was ever in question or anything.' He took a sip of his drink. 'So, next question. D'you feel the same way about him?'

'I've only just met him,' Wufei hedged. He knew; well, he thought he was starting to acknowledge how he felt about Zechs, and he thought he knew how much the prince liked him, but it was rather nice to hear someone else confirm it.

'Don't give me that. I knew how I felt about Heero after less than five minutes. And, sorry, but I walked in on you guys this morning, remember? It was pretty obvious there was chemistry if nothing else between you. Hell, I was there when you first saw each other. I've practically had a ringside seat so far.'

'Why bother asking me then?' Wufei muttered. 'If you know so much already.'

'Just wondering if it was purely physical for you. Look, tell me to mind my own business if you like, but he's a really good friend of mine. He's serious about you and I just wondered if you felt the same or if this is just a holiday fling for you with the cute guy next door before you get back to your real life?'

'I don't do flings!' Wufei snapped at him. 'Of course I'm serious about him and of course it's more than physical.'

'Cool.' Duo mopped up some of his sauce with a piece of bread. 'I guessed you felt like that, but I just wanted to check.' He threw Wufei one of those impossibly charming smiles. 'I thought we could either sit here all afternoon with me being all subtle about asking you, or I could just jump straight in. Now we've got it over with so we can move on and talk about something else. You don't mind too much, do you?'

'I suppose not.' It was true, surprisingly enough. He'd only known Duo a few days, but it was utterly impossible not to warm to him. And it was rather nice that Zechs had such a concerned friend.

'Thing is, he was really hurt by some ex a few years ago. When I first met him, he was still getting over it, and there hasn't really been anyone serious since then. Not 'til you.'

'We have talked, a little, about this.' Wufei broke off a piece of bread, giving his hands something to do. 'We agreed that we both want more than just a quick fling and that we wanted to get to know each other, as friends, before, well, before anything physical.'

'Hum. You do realise you used the past tense there, both times.'

Wufei nodded, concentrating very hard on cutting up a piece of chicken. How had he ever got into this conversation? He was starting to suspect Duo of injecting his food with some sort of truth serum. 'We may have changed the rules fractionally.'

'Yeah, I sort of got that today.' Duo crowed with laughter. 'So did you sleep together the other night?'

'No!' Damnation, he was going to have to get better at anticipating these sort of questions.

'Why not?' Duo asked bluntly. 'Moonlight, a gorgeous blond guy, the sound of the sea and all that jazz…I'd have jumped him before he knew what was going on!'

At this point, Chang Wufei, who had been surprising himself almost non-stop ever since he had arrived in this country, gave himself another shock. Grinning over at Duo, he said, 'Actually, there was a certain amount of jumping.'

'Cool!' Before he could start to ask any more personal questions, or before Wufei could provide answers, Duo's 'phone providentially rang.

'Just a sec. Oh, hey Heero. Everything OK? Yes, fine, having lunch with Wufei right now. We're thinking of running off to the Caribbean with this German millionaire guy. Yeah, I'll be home for dinner. A couple of hours, probably; Wufei needs to buy some stuff. Yes, I _did _get them; they're horribly boring. Black with turn-ups and a crease and everything. He's definitely coming to the party; looking forward to it. I'm not so sure about the actual presentation; I'll ask him and call you back. 'Kay, see you about six. Love you.' He slid the 'phone back into his pocket. 'That was Heero, in case you didn't guess. He wants to know if you'd be interested in attending the actual presentation on Friday; apparently a couple of people pulled out so there're a few tickets going spare.'

'I'd like to, very much. You know, you still haven't told me what his paper is about?'

'Seaweed in the Southern Mediterranean.'

'Seaweed?' Wufei asked blankly. He'd imagined Heero working with sharks or killer whales or giant Octopus. Not seaweed. 'There are people who study that?'

'More than you'd imagine.' Duo groaned slightly. 'Actually, it's kind of important. Seaweed is one of the best ways to gauge the condition of any marine environment.' He sounded like he was quoting something. 'Heero's been working on this project for the last year or so. I warn you, it'll be pretty boring if you're not into that sort of thing, but you're probably used to sitting through those sort of lectures, right? You'll get to see where he works, and meet a few more of our friends. And the party after should be fun.'

More fun, Wufei reflected. It did sound enjoyable, especially since Duo had promised they could take _Peacemillion _out for a sail if weather conditions were right. It just wasn't all that easy to get enthusiastic about something that wasn't going to happen another couple of days. Not when he had an entire evening with Zechs to look forward to first.

'That reminds me,' Duo muttered, laying down his knife and fork. 'I need to stop at the supermarket on the way home. I've got a list somewhere of stuff we need to get for the party. What did you have to buy?'

'Not a lot really. I do need to visit the post office and I need to find somewhere that sells printer cartridges. Oh, and I have to get credit for my 'phone.'

'No problemo. We should be home in a couple of hours, tops.' He grinned wickedly. 'Don't want Zechsy getting lonely all on his own now, do we?'


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own them. Enough said.**

As always, thanks to KS for looking over..

**Chapter 10:**

'Hey, 'Ro. You know the absolute best thing about sex on a boat?'

'Hn,' Heero muttered drowsily, wishing his boyfriend could, for once in his life, just fall asleep.

It wasn't going to happen though. If he had to admit, under extreme torture, that Duo had anything resembling a fault, it would be his boyfriend's propensity to talk after sex. Well, that and his fondness for overly revealing clothes that showed off far too much skin. Not that that was a fault, precisely; Heero just didn't like anyone except him getting to ogle that particular skin. Or what it covered.

Heero liked to cuddle a little bit before falling asleep; Duo liked to have long, meaningful conversations.

It wasn't an insurmountable problem. He didn't always require active audience participation, or only the occasional 'Hn'. He usually either talked himself to sleep, or else woke up properly, in which case he could generally be persuaded to use his mouth in a totally different way.

'You get to make all those atrocious jokes about dropping anchor and raising the mast?' he suggested finally.

Duo sniggered. 'Apart from that. The best bit is that the Earth always moves! Get it? 'Cause the sea is never totally still.'

'That's awful,' Heero said heavily, refusing to smile. 'I'm too tired to work out whether it's an insult or a compliment to me.'

'Compliment! Obviously. You always make the Earth move.' Duo pressed a little closer, tucking his head into the curve of Heero's shoulder. 'You know something? I'll bet anything you like that there's an earthquake going on in Zechs' bedroom right now.' He laughed. 'You could see they thought I was never going to leave and they were both too polite to tell me just to fuck off and leave them in peace. Well, I think Zechs would have, but he didn't want to do it in front of Wufei.'

'So of course you had to stay and have a drink with them?'

'Natch! You should have seen the way they were looking at each other. Serious sparkage! I bet they jumped on each other before I was even out the front door.'

'Really? Isn't it a little soon for that sort of thing?'

Duo's eyebrows lifted. 'Says the guy who jumped on me after knowing me for less than two hours?'

'That was different.'

'Yeah, yeah. Sure it was.'

'I seem to remember mutual jumping, actually.'

'It was, wasn't it?' Duo snuggled up to him, and Heero pulled him closer, loving the skin-to-skin sensation. 'Mmm. This is nice. I don't suppose there's any remote chance that you've got some chocolate on you?'

'Not on my person, no.' Heero grinned. Typical Duo; always thinking of his stomach. 'I think you'd have found it by now. But I _might _have a bar of something in my laptop bag.'

'Gimme!' Duo gave him a noisy, sloppy kiss before leaning over and groping on the floor in a wild tangle of flying hair. 'Yay! Kit-Kats. You are _the _perfectest boyfriend in the universe, you know that?'

Heero just managed to suppress a groan. Duo Maxwell, naked and nibbling on a bar of chocolate, was impossibly erotic. He was staring to forget he'd ever been tired.

'I thought sex was meant to be a substitute for chocolate. Am I not doing it right?'

'Not a substitute,' his lover informed him, breaking off a stick of chocolate and proceeding to give it what looked like a very thorough blow job. 'They're complementary products. Hey, you remember the chocolate body paint we bought that time?'

That made Heero groan again. 'I will remember the chocolate body paint for the rest of my natural life.'

'Oh, good. Y'know, we could get some more, for Friday night. Once we kick everyone off the boat, we can have our own private little celebration. How's that sound?'

Heero cleared his throat. Shit. He hadn't meant to bring it up quite so soon, not when they were both happy and relaxed. 'I meant to talk to you about that. Quatre called me at work this afternoon. He and Trowa are definitely coming here for Friday, and he said he'd like to take everyone out to dinner somewhere nice, and then maybe go back to his house for drinks. That's OK, isn't it?'

'Fine,' Duo said shortly. He finished the rest of his chocolate in one gulp, without any erotic flourishes. 'That's your choice then. You can have Quatre's glitzy party or you can have me.'

'Duo, don't be like that. Please.'

'I'm not being _like _anything.' Duo jerked away from his lover's hand and slid as far away as he could. It wasn't far, actually; their bed wasn't that big. At least, he was staying _in _the bed, rather than storming off. They were both getting so much better at having arguments. The distance seemed huge, though, especially when Duo turned his back on him. 'I _am _pissed. We've been planning this night for ages, inviting everyone back here afterwards, and I don't see why Quatre gets to change all that at the last minute because he happens to be in the area, and I'm pissed that you're just going along with it. Is that clear enough?'

'I didn't think you'd mind,' Heero said quietly. 'It's very generous of Quatre. He's flying halfway around the world to be here for me; he's just trying to be supportive.'

'No.' It was said flatly, leaving no room for argument. 'Jetting in out of nowhere and upsetting all the plans we'd already made is _not _supportive, Heero. Didn't it even occur to him that someone else in the universe, like possibly your boyfriend, might have arranged something for you? Well, he doesn't get to do it. Not this time. The people you work with have been supportive of you, I've put up with you living and breathing bloody seaweed for the past however many months. Hell, there were times when I could hardly go to bed because you had the stuff everywhere. _That's _being supportive. Not swanning in and throwing money around. Can't you see that?'

Heero nodded. 'I'm sorry. It wasn't Quatre's fault. He was trying to be nice. I should have said we already had plans.'

'Why didn't you then?' Duo asked abruptly. 'I've been looking forward to this for ages, and you damn well know it. I'm your boyfriend; I'm the one who's been wanting to make that night really special for you. Apart from anything else, half the people you work with won't be comfortable in Quat's idea of a 'nice' restaurant, where they probably won't know how to eat half the stuff, let alone what it is. You ever think of that?'

Heero shook his head dolefully. 'You know I'm not good at thinking of that sort of thing. I've said I'm sorry. I'll call Quatre in the morning and tell him you already had arrangements. Is that all right?'

'Sure.' Duo's beautiful, beautiful eyes rolled alarmingly far back in his head. 'You call Quat and apologise that you're messing up his lovely schemes because your jealous boyfriend threw a hissy fit. That what you're going to do?'

'No.' Heero took a deep breath, knowing that he had to get this right. 'I'm going to apologise on my own behalf for not telling him that _we _already had the evening sorted. Is that acceptable? It is all right that Quatre and Trowa come to the party here, isn't it?'

'Sheesh.' He did the eye-rolling thing again, something Heero hated. 'Of course it is. I have never, never tried to stop you being friends with Quatre. I like the guy. I'd maybe just like him a bit better if he sometimes acted like I'm your partner and actually have a say in your life, and maybe even know a little bit about you, even if I haven't known you as long as he has.'

'He doesn't mean it like that.' Since Duo seemed to be calming down a little bit, Heero reached out and pulled him back down into his arms. This time, Duo let him. 'It's just we _have _been friends since we were children and he doesn't make friends all that easily. He's scared of losing me, that's all. You know that.'

'Yeah, sure,' Duo muttered. 'Let's all make allowances for Quatre Winner's insecurities. And there's another thing. You said he wants to give a party at his house; where does Wufei fit into that? Has Quat even mentioned any of this to him?'

'He was going to mail him, and he said Trowa had been trying to call. But Duo, it's Quatre's house. He's entitled to do what he likes in it.'

'Correction,' Duo said firmly. 'Wufei's hired it for a couple of months. He's paying rent; that makes it legally his. _Peacemillion _may be mine, but if people pay a charter, then she belongs to _them _for the duration.'

'It's not exactly the same.'

'Oh, yes it is. Listen, you didn't mention anything to Quatre about Wufei and Zechsy, did you?'

Heero shook his head. 'He knows about them. Apparently, he was talking to Zechs yesterday evening. Why?'

'Really?' Duo propped himself up one elbow, gazing down at his lover's face. 'Yesterday evening, huh? Wonder if that had anything to do with Quatre's sudden decision to come out here?'

'What's that supposed to mean? Why should it? He's coming to attend my presentation, you know that.'

'Yeah?' He bent down to press a sweet kiss to Heero's lips. 'For such a smart guy, you really can be clueless as hell. He's known about your presentation for months, right? And then he suddenly decides to attend a couple of days in advance. You don't think that's just a little weird?'

'No,' Heero maintained stubbornly. 'He's my friend. He's just terribly busy, that's all. One of the meetings he was due to attend was cancelled so he has some free time.'

'God, you're dense sometimes. Lucky you didn't have to discuss interpersonal relationships among seaweed for your doctorate, or you'd have failed big time. Listen, 'Ro. Quatre is pathologically insecure, and he has serious issues about abandonment. I have them too, so I know. He's crazy about Trowa, and Trowa just happens to have this really cute ex floating around, who still happens to be a close friend of his. You don't think that set off serious alarm bells for Quat? Shit, he probably jumped at the thought of getting Wufei out of the picture, at least temporarily, by shipping him off to Spain.'

'Duo, Quat's not like that.' Heero shifted uneasily. 'You make him sound so devious.'

'Quatre Winner is quite possibly the most devious person on the face of this whole planet!' Duo scoffed. 'It must have seemed like the perfect plan; send the competition off to a whole other country to keep him well out of Trowa's life, and make sure at the same time that he doesn't get too involved with any of Quatre's other friends.'

'He _told _us Wufei was coming. He asked us to keep an eye on him! How exactly is that not including him?'

Duo grinned suddenly, leaning over to brush his lips over his partner's. 'Are all geeky scientists as thick as you? The way Quatre talked about Wufei, I was expecting this ancient, totally eccentric professor. And he kept going on about how the guy was here to work on his book or whatever, and wouldn't want to be disturbed, and how he wasn't remotely sociable so we weren't to bother him. Yeah, that's really inspiring us to include him in stuff.'

'I thought you liked Quatre. I thought you were friends.'

'I do. We are. But it's taken a couple of years and some major arguments. And just because I happen to like him now, doesn't mean that I can't see he has faults. Which nobody else apparently can. Everyone else in the universe thinks he's this perfect, pure angel.'

'I don't think that.' Heero found himself strangely unable to look Duo in the face. It didn't make sense. Quatre was one of his oldest, closest friends, but he _didn't _think he was perfect. It was just that they'd known each other for years and Quatre had always been there for him.

'Just take him off that pedestal for two seconds and listen to me. Quatre Winner did his damnedest to split up the two of us,' Duo said candidly. 'Remember? And he nearly succeeded.'

'He didn't know you then, love. He was just being protective of me.'

Duo's answering snort was loud in the silent room. 'That's kind of the point, Heero. He _didn't _know me. He didn't know anything about me. And he still made the decision that I wasn't good enough for you and he was going to put a stop to it.'

'I wouldn't have let him split us up.' Heero recoiled at the very thought, his mouth suddenly dry. 'I'd never have let anyone do that. Really, he always means well. And he likes you now; he considers you a good friend.'

'Listen, I'm not dissing him. Seriously. But he had this nice safe little world constructed with you and Zechs and 'Lena and the others, where he felt all safe and secure, and I was this total unknown coming into the picture who was maybe going to take you away. He doesn't deal too well with threats. And now I'm kind of worried that he's feeling the same way about Wufei. Even if he doesn't think it's serious with him and Zechs, he's probably not that keen about Wufei getting pally with all of us.'

'You like him, don't you? Wufei, I mean.'

'I like him. Plus he's lonely. He and Zechs are really cute together, you know. I've never seen Zechs so bowled over by someone in all the time I've known him. When he's with Wufei, he just can't take his eyes off him for one second.'

'They've only just met. It can't be all that serious.' It wasn't that he didn't want Zechs to be happy with someone. He did. But he knew what Zechs had been like after Treize had left, and he couldn't see there being any future for him with Wufei. The man was probably going to leave as soon as he'd finished that book of his and go back to his real life. And Heero would be left to piece together his friend's broken heart. Again. He'd told Duo that, and his lover was stubbornly holding to the belief that they could work something out.

'You know that it happens like that sometimes. It did with us. The minute I saw you standing there glaring at me from the dock, I damn well _knew_. They deserve a chance to work that out together, without Quatre trying to fuck it up.'

'I knew as well,' Heero said softly, deciding the Zechs/Wufei discussion was going nowhere. 'You were standing there draped in all those silly, sparkly little lights that you were trying to hang up, and you had tinsel braided into your hair.'

Duo laughed. 'Yeah, it was _so _romantic. Until you started mouthing off all that health and safety drivel.'

'I couldn't think of anything else to say,' Heero confessed. 'You just looked so beautiful, my brain just froze.'

'And you thought what? That the best way to approach me was to threaten to report me to the Marina authorities for being in breach of fire regulations?'

'It got your attention.' Heero gave him a shy little smile, remembering that precise moment when their eyes had met for the first time. So much electricity had surged between them that it definitely had constituted a fire hazard. 'I didn't think you'd ever be remotely interested in a dense, geeky scientist.'

'Hmm. I happen to like dense, geeky scientists. Lucky for you.'

'Do you really? How much?'

'Hmmm.' Duo took a long, evaluating look between Heero's legs and held up his hands, a very precise distance apart. 'About this much. Possibly a little bit more, depending on

sailing conditions.'

'Do you think they may be favourable at the moment?'

'Maybe.' Duo licked one finger and held it up. 'Let's see. Wind's in the right direction; good for all sorts of tricky docking exercises . Tide may be running a little bit high, but I think we could probably risk it, if you're game?'

'Always.' Heero tugged his partner on top of him, loving the way Duo sprawled over him, exactly like a sybaritic cat seeking the most comfortable place to lie. 'There were a few minutes back there when I wasn't sure if the forecast was going to be seriously hazardous.'

'There was a bit of a squall, all right.' Duo chuckled, tossing his head so all that glorious silken hair brushed Heero's skin. 'You did a pretty good job of steering us clear, though. I was impressed.'

'I think I'm getting better at all of this, don't you?' he asked hopefully.

'Think we both are,' Duo purred, lifting his head and angling at just the right direction for his hair to pool in his lover's lap. 'Two years ago, I'd have been half way to Algiers by now.'

'With me in hot pursuit. I'm glad we don't do that sort of thing any more.'

'Mmm. The reunions were sort of nice though.' The gleaming chestnut head dipped slightly, and he nibbled Heero's collar bone. ''Course, this way we get to make up without having to do all the screaming and chasing.'

'Some parts of the chasing were fun, especially the actual catching.' Oh, _that _felt good; the soft mass of hair in his lap was tickling him deliciously as Duo's mouth worked its way up his throat.

'I always liked being caught,' Duo agreed happily. 'You happy to steer for home again?'

'Unless you want to.'

'Nah.' Duo placed both hands on Heero's chest, pushing himself up. 'You've been doing a pretty amazing job of handling the tiller so far. Why don't you stay on the bridge for this round?' He inched forward, very deliberately, raising himself carefully over Heero's erection.

_Oh._

Everyone had told him that the first mad passion never lasted; that honeymoon period where new lovers couldn't keep their hands off each other. It had gotten stronger, and so had his feelings for Duo.

Gripping his love's hips to hold him in place, he gazed adoringly up into that beautiful, vivid face.

'I love you. I love more than anything in the whole universe and I'm going to show you just how much.'


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own no part of the Gundam Wing characters, except in my head…

Note: To KS, for the many wonderful comments in crimson, thank you! Oh, and many, many thanks to everyone who has kindly taken the time to review. I really do appreciate your comments.

**Chapter 11:**

'You know, I should probably get going.' Duo grinned at them both, setting himself more comfortably in his chair.

'Really?' Zechs didn't even bother to hide the sarcasm in his voice. Duo had been announcing his intention to leave even as he'd walked through the front door, and at regular intervals since. Part of him wanted to be annoyed. 'I thought you were planning to move in permanently.'

'Nah, I told Heero I'd be home for dinner.' This time, he actually stood up. 'You guys, be good. And if you can't be good, make sure you enjoy it! Zechs, don't go ripping his fancy new clothes off, OK? He looks great, doesn't he?' Duo's tone was as proud as if he'd invented Wufei all by himself.

'He always looks wonderful,' Zechs responded softly.

'Sure he does,' Duo agreed. 'In clothes, out of clothes. Whatever. Maybe he'll give you a little fashion show later if you're good?'

'I think, Maxwell, that it's high time you left.'

'Oh, fine. I get that I'm not wanted.' He was obviously doing his best to sound offended, the effect spoilt by his smile. 'Wufei, call me in the morning, OK? And have fun, both of you. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!'

Zechs snorted, all but shoving him out the door. '_Is _there such a thing? Goodnight, Duo.'

'Has he actually gone this time?' Wufei groaned, his cheeks deliciously flushed from Duo's parting comments.

'Miraculously, yes.' Zechs looked out of the window to check; Duo turned back to give him a jaunty wave that transformed into a slightly obscene gesture. 'I should have thrown him out an hour ago.'

He should have. But it had helped, somehow, having Duo there. It meant he hadn't had to be alone with Wufei; that he could pretend everything was fine.

'I'd have held the door for you.'

'I'll remember that for next time.'

'I don't think we should even let him in the door next time.' There was the loveliest, most tempting smile on Wufei's lush mouth, begging to be kissed.

Irresistible, despite all his best intentions.

It was Treize, all over again, and Wufei was going to leave him, just like Treize had, and it was going to happen all over again. A long, loving farewell with promises to keep in touch and visit and then dwindling 'phone calls and the occasional, impersonal email and then nothing.

And it was all his own fault; wanting too much as usual. Wanting everything.

For the first ten minutes or so after Quatre had hung up, he'd been furious, and then he'd tried to rationalise. Wufei hadn't lied directly, as such. Perhaps he hadn't been totally honest, but then maybe that was Zechs' fault as well.

He hadn't asked; he'd made certain assumptions, because he'd wanted to.

It even made sense, if he tried to look at it from the other man's perspective. Wufei's entire life had changed massively in the past couple of weeks. A new home in a new country; his ex-boyfriend blissfully happy with a new partner.

What could be more reasonable than a brief holiday romance with someone he'd most likely never see again? A nice little boost to his ego, and a convenient sexual partner; no strings attached.

Who wouldn't want that?

Zechs sighed as Wufei twined both arms around his neck, pulling his head down for a deep, devouring kiss.

'You're being very forward.'

'I think it's Duo's influence,' Wufei admitted, tongue dabbing gently at the tiny hollow just below Zechs' right ear.

'Mmm. I'll have to send you out with him more often if he has this effect on you.'

'I'd rather go out with you.' Sharp teeth delivered a stinging little nip to his earlobe. 'Or maybe it's the champagne we had at lunch. I hadn't realised I liked it so much.'

'You're adorable.' Zechs sank down into his favourite armchair, pulling the other man into his lap. 'And don't start contradicting me. We've already had this conversation, and if I say my boyfriend is adorable, he is.'

Boyfriend. Hah. He'd said he didn't do flings, by which he'd presumably meant one night stands. Fair enough. Insanely stupid of Zechs to think that had implied he wanted some sort of longer commitment.

'But I wasn't going to contradict you.' Those beautiful dark eyes gleamed up at him. 'Duo's been teaching me how to accept compliments gracefully.'

'Oh, has he now?' One of Zechs' fingers found that nasty, obstructive little hair elastic, and flicked it away, freeing all that glorious ebony silk. 'I'm not sure if I'll be sending you two off alone together again. I'm the only one who should be giving you champagne and compliments.'

And he had ten days to do it, assuming Quatre was right about when he planned to leave. It wasn't very much. A sensible man would look on ten days of commitment-free sex with a beautiful, willing partner as an unlooked-for gift and revel in every second and not indulge in ridiculous fantasies of wanting more.

Wufei gave him a demure little smile. 'But it wasn't Duo who bought me champagne. It was a man in the restaurant where we had lunch.'

'Really?' How very odd, that he didn't actually mind the thought of it. Treize had always gloried in attention and flattery; he'd loved coming home and flaunting all the propositions he'd received.

But this was Wufei and he was saying it almost bemusedly, as if he didn't quite believe that such a thing had happened to him.

None of this made any sense whatsoever.

'Zechs? You don't mind, do you? It wasn't serious or anything.'

If he'd felt even a moment's jealousy, it would have evaporated under the concern in the other man's face, tinged with anxiety.

'I'm sorry. Duo was fooling around and I just went along with him.'

'Don't be silly.' Zechs bent and kissed the tiny groove that had suddenly appeared between those dark brows. 'I'm surprised there was only one man trying to get your attention. Especially dressed in those clothes.'

'Oh! Do you like them?' Wufei bit his lip on the last word, but the question had already escaped.

He was just _too _adorable. Ten days, after all, had to be better than nothing. It was what Wufei clearly wanted.

'I like them very much. I can't wait to see what else you have in all those bags. I don't suppose you'd consider going along with Duo's suggestion of giving me a little fashion show?'

That black head shook firmly, soft hair stirring delightfully against Zechs' neck. 'Not tonight.'

'No? Does that mean you have something else in mind for us to do?'

'You know perfectly well what I have in mind,' Wufei retorted tartly.

Of course he did. Of course. He had this beautiful man pressed against him and everything he said or did only served to make Zechs want him more.

'I know.' He said it heavily, arms tightening around Wufei's waist.

_I'm such a fool._

'May I ask you something first? Please?'

Those glorious eyes were gazing into his, searching.

'What's wrong?' He was deadly serious, all the light flirtation gone in a blink. 'What did I do?'

'Nothing.' Zechs pushed his head into the curve of the other man's shoulder, unable to look at him. 'You've done nothing wrong. It's me.'

Letting himself dream of something that would never happen.

'Zechs?' Wufei let him lie there, one soft hand stroking his hair, but of course he wouldn't leave the subject alone. 'Just tell me what's the matter?'

'I'm falling in love with you.' There. He'd said it. 'I'm sorry. I know it's ridiculously soon to say anything of the sort, but we did say we were going to be honest with each other.'

'I don't think I understand,' Wufei whispered. 'I, ah, I'm honoured of course, but well, I don't know what falling in love feels like, not really, but I do like you enormously and maybe more than that, and I can't stop thinking about you and …why on earth are you apologising for saying something like that?'

'It's stupid because you're only here for ten more days,' Zechs said tightly. 'Because you'll be leaving soon and because I want something that I can't have.'

'I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.'

'Quatre called while you were out with Duo. Not long after you'd both left actually. I hadn't realised you were planning to leave here quite so soon. He happened to mention that you have a flight to New York already booked.'

Waiting for Wufei to come back, he'd tried to convince himself that it didn't matter; that a few weeks would be enough, and that maybe they could make a plan to meet up again at some point. Maybe.

It was his own fault.

'It would have been nice if you'd told me any of that. I'd been under the impression that you were here for several months, at least. That we'd have enough time for whatever we have between us to develop. If all you're after is a sexual partner for your holiday, then I'm sorry but I don't think I can oblige you.'

'Oh, Zechs.'

He could see emotions chasing each other across Wufei's face, like flickers of lightning and then the other man was kissing him. More lightning strikes. Desire and anger and need.

Was that it then? One last kiss before he left. To tempt him otherwise or to show him what he was missing or a little gesture of pity.

'What Quatre said wasn't exactly true.' His breathing was just a little ragged, but every word was clinically precise. 'I'm going to need to tell you a little bit of how all this happened. Can you just listen to me?' He pushed himself off Zechs' lap, perching on the arm of his chair.

'Trowa and I used to share an apartment. When we broke up, I was the one who moved out. That was only fair; he'd been the one to find it, and he'd done a lot of maintenance work. I moved into an apartment on campus. When I took my sabbatical, I assumed I'd just stay there and work in the library and that nothing would really change except that I wouldn't have any classes to teach. Two weeks ago, I had a letter from the Housing Administration Secretary saying that my new home was needed for a visiting professor. I told Trowa and he mentioned that Quatre had a villa in Spain that he almost never used.'

'Ah.'

'Yes,' Wufei added wryly. 'Exactly. Ah. I refused at first; I didn't want to move to a new country and certainly not to a house belonging to my ex's new partner, but I was caught up in editing my book. I didn't want to have to start searching for somewhere to live. All I really needed was a quiet place where I could work for a few weeks so I could send the first draft off to my publishers.'

'Quatre said he spoke to you the day before yesterday. That he'd said you were welcome to stay in the villa for longer if you liked. That you refused. Was he wrong?'

Wufei sighed deeply. 'Yes, he did say that, very kindly, and I did refuse, but not because I had any plans to leave Spain. His house is far too big for me; I don't feel comfortable there. He won't even let me pay a proper rent, just a ridiculously small contribution toward the utilities. I'd really rather not live on the charity of my ex-boyfriend's new partner. I thought I might look into finding a small place to rent. I asked Duo and he told me that there are some studio apartments to let down by the harbour.' He sniffed. 'If you don't believe me, you can ask him.'

Oh, God. This was all going so terribly wrong. 'Of course I believe you! Please, Wufei, can you just listen to me? I wasn't thinking clearly. I've spent the last couple of hours thinking you'd been planning to leave all along, that you'd never meant to stay here for more than a few weeks.'

'I do have a flight booked,' the Chinese man told him quietly. 'My friend Sally lives in New York. I think I told you about her. She moved to America a couple of years ago and she's always nagging me to visit her. I booked the tickets weeks ago, when they were on a special offer, but the date is changeable. I was going to postpone it. Now, can you please tell me why you thought I only wanted you for a few weeks' sexual gratification? Don't you trust me at all?'

That beautiful face was painfully full of hurt and bewilderment. 'I have told you and told you that I'm not interested in those sort of flings. I thought you believed that, but you obviously don't know me at all.'

'Wufei, please don't.' Zechs could hear the raw pain in his own voice; it exactly mirrored the pain in Wufei's dark eyes. 'I have no idea what I thought. Can you try to put yourself in my position for a moment? How would you have felt if Duo told you that I was planning to leave the country and hadn't even mentioned it to you?'

'I hope I would have the decency to ask you to tell me your plans before I started insulting you!' Wufei flashed. 'I might possibly wonder if Duo had somehow got his facts wrong, and why he was telling me such a thing in the first place.'

'If that's aimed at Quatre, he's one of my closest friends. He was trying to help.'

'It was none of his business. None,' Wufei glared at him. 'If he is such a good, true friend, he should be glad that you have found someone to care for and who cares about you.

'He didn't mean it like that. He and Heero were there three years ago when Treize left me. Quatre just doesn't want me to be hurt like that again. That's all.'

Wufei sniffed. '_Heero _is not trying to separate us. Nor is Duo, who appears to be very fond of you. I would never treat _anyone _in such a dishonourable manner. If you had asked me my plans, I would have told you what I just said. Instead, you prefer to listen to gossip from someone who knows nothing about me. How can you truly have such a low opinion of me that you can believe I'd just walk out on you after what's happened between us?'

'Because I'm scared of what's happening.' Zechs swallowed. 'You told me it's scaring you. Well, that's how I feel too. And I don't see how this can ever work. Even if you do stay in this country for a year, you have a life to go back to; a career; everything. I can't expect you to give any of those things up. What I said about falling in love with you is true.'

Wufei took his chin in both hands, giving him another of those long, soul-searching gazes. 'You make it terribly hard for me to be angry with you when you say things like that, you know.'

'Should I apologise for that?'

Wufei shook his head, frowning. 'Not that. There are plenty of other things. You say you love me in one breath and the next you accuse me of toying with you and lying to you. How can you insult me like that if you really do have any sort of feelings for me?'

'I am truly sorry.' Zechs spoke into the empty echoing chasm that had sprung into existence between them. They were only a few inches apart, Wufei on the arm of his chair. If he didn't manage to find the right words, this time, he'd probably get up and walk away and that would be the end of it all.

'I was scared and hurt and I reacted very badly. Don't you see, it's all my fault. It's nothing to do with you. I'm the one who's totally at fault. Yes, I _know _that I should have talked to you first, and I probably shouldn't have listened to Quatre, but it's rather difficult to act rationally when emotions are so much involved.'

Another dismissive little sniff; still, at least he hadn't stormed out. 'That sounds very uncomfortable.' Wufei's beautiful mouth settled into a prim, disapproving line, and despite everything, Zechs had to laugh.

'It is actually.' He reached up one hand to tuck a stray lock of raven-dark hair behind Wufei's right ear. 'Very uncomfortable. Haven't you ever felt like that?'

He blushed, tossing his head so all that glorious hair tumbled over his face. 'Yes. With you. As you very well know. I wouldn't be here now if I didn't. I'd be at Quatre's house, doing something productive with my time.'

He was smiling; well, almost smiling. There was a definite tilt to the left side of his mouth.

'Ah. I see. Time spent with me is a waste, is that it?'

'It is when you make those sorts of baseless accusations. _That _is wasting time. I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me.'

'It isn't that. It was never that.' Blue eyes met black, desperately trying to convince. 'It was about me being an insecure idiot, and terrified of getting hurt, and of losing you when I've only just found you. Wufei, I can spend the rest of the night apologising to you, but that wouldn't really accomplish anything, would it? How can I make this better?'

Wufei gave him of those long, coolly evaluating looks. 'I simply cannot believe that anyone who looks like you can be remotely insecure. I should be the one with that particular problem.'

'As Duo would say, "right back atcha". I thought he'd been teaching you how to accept a compliment without blushing. He hasn't quite managed it, has he?'

'Not when you're looking at me like that,' Wufei whispered. 'Now, listen to me.' He stood abruptly, shaking his hair back and Zechs had a sudden image of him lecturing to a class, demanding every student's total attention. 'There are things we need to discuss. If anything is ever to happen between us, we need to trust each other, don't you think? No more listening to rumours and speculation by other people. Agreed?'

'Agreed,' Zechs nodded meekly. Gods, he was magnificent when he decided to be all dominant and masterful. With any luck, he'd be exactly like that in the bedroom.

'Good.' One slim, golden finger flicked Zechs' cheek. 'Now, before all of this, you wanted to ask me a question.'

'So I did.' Zechs looked down at his hands, very demure and proper. 'Is that permitted, my all-conquering pirate?'

Wufei looked confused for a second and then laughed, playing along. 'What did you want to ask, my beautiful captive Prince?'

Oh, now there was an intriguing thought…being his captive.

'I did wonder what your intentions toward me are. Beyond being ravished at your convenience obviously.'

'Oh, well, obviously.' He flopped down onto Zechs' lap, winding both arms around his waist. 'I don't know. You said earlier that we should allow this - thing - between us to develop and that sounds like a good idea. After that, if we are still serious about one another, then we will find a way to be together. Isn't that what you wanted?'

'Of course it is,' Zechs said softly. 'You make it sound so very simple, but it won't be really, will it?'

'Nothing worthwhile is ever simple. We can make it work it we truly want to. I can extend my sabbatical or concentrate on writing full time or you could perhaps think about extending your business to another country. We don't need to decide any of that now. We've wasted more than enough time when we could have been ravishing each other.'

'We have time.' Zechs whispered it. 'We don't need to rush any of this.'

'Speak for yourself,' Wufei said tartly. 'Where's your bedroom?'


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Note: Many thanks to KS for proofing and to everyone who has been kind enough to comment.

**Chapter 12:**

There were dragonflies, hovering just over the surface of the pool.

Wufei had never really bothered about insects before; troublesome, buzzing, stinging creatures, but these were beautiful.

Everything, this morning, was beautiful, touched by magic and sunlight and love.

Zechs' eyes, smiling at him, were a colour beyond mere _blue; _a colour that was uniquely their own.

'What are you thinking about, _querido_?'

It was Spanish for _darling_, Zechs had told him that last night. _Mi querido_ meant _my darling._

'You. Being happy. Colours.'

They hadn't spoken much since they'd left Zechs' bedroom an hour ago. They hadn't really needed to. They'd talked all night in the intervals between making love. It had been a night of shared secrets and sighs and softly murmured confidences mingled with gasps of delight and the high, sharp calling of each other's names.

In the blue, clear morning, it could all have been a beautiful dream.

Except it wasn't.

'Hmm. Colours?'

In the bright sunlight, Zechs looked tired, which Wufei probably did too, after a night of practically no sleep. They'd settled in each other's arms on several occasions, to rest a little, and then one of them had murmured a question or an endearment, or curled a little closer, or been unable to resist a kiss or a caress.

He looked tired but happy.

_Sated_.

It wasn't a word that was normally in Wufei's vocabulary. It was now.

The whole night had been a seduction; slow, achingly sweet. Silken sheets on a huge, ornately carved wooden bed. Moonlight and candlelight gleaming on bare skin, glittering on blue eyes and black. The sharp tang of lovemaking had cut through the gentler fragrances of beeswax, of oil, of the distant smell of the sea, as desire ebbed and flowed, and surged again

_Sated_, he decided, was a good look for Zechs. He was so beautiful, his prince. That long, glorious hair caught the sun's rays and trapped them in strands of molten gold and silver.

'Blue. Your eyes must be the bluest thing in the entire universe,' Wufei elaborated, touching Zechs' lashes with one gentle finger and smiling. For all that Zechs teased him about accepting compliments, he was rather unsure about accepting them on his own account.

One of the things he'd discovered in the last twelve hours. Twelve hours that had changed his life utterly and irrevocably.

'You're going to make me horribly conceited.'

'Am I?' Wufei laughed. 'I think that will be two of us then, with all the things you say to me. Plus I'm the one who was propositioned yesterday, don't forget.'

'I know.' Zechs sighed, attempting and failing utterly, to look sorrowful. 'Is this how our relationship is going to work then? I stay at home to work and you wander around being admired by other men?'

'Yes. I love you.' He'd lost count now of how many times he'd said it. Amazing. 'One of us is going to have to work, after all. If I'm to stay here, I'll need you to support me.'

'I'm not sure if I could afford to support you in the style you're apparently getting accustomed to. Champagne at lunch time, trips to the Caribbean in a private yacht. I don't think I can compete with any of that.'

'You know you don't have to. You're doing a very good job of spoiling me anyway.'

'Good.' Zechs broke off a piece of croissant and fed it to him, smiling when Wufei licked stray crumbs off his fingers.

So decadent, all of this.

Juice and croissants and fruit by a sunlit pool. Zechs had originally suggested breakfast in bed. He'd even gone down to the kitchen to fetch it, at which point Wufei had decided that he couldn't bear for them to be apart for even those few minutes and followed him downstairs. The kitchen table was very sturdy, luckily.

Afterwards, they'd decided to have breakfast on the terrace, followed by a swim to wash off any jam or honey or other sticky substances.

Oh, very decadent. He'd never imagined that his life could turn out like this; being hand-fed a delicious breakfast by an adoring boyfriend. Not when they were both naked and tangled together on a sun-lounger under a burnt-blue sky.

'Eat,' Zechs ordered. 'You need to keep your strength up.'

'Do I?' Wufei teased, lifting his eyebrows. He was smiling. He'd been smiling for hours. Twelve hours ago, he'd been ready to walk out of this house, out of this man's life, for the things he'd said and thought.

It was one of the things they'd talked about, lapped in velvet darkness and each other's warmth. It had still stung, then, just a little. Even though Zechs had explained and apologised, he'd insulted Wufei's pride and honour.

At some point, he'd offered an apology of his own. He hadn't been entirely fair. Quatre was a close and long-term friend of Zechs'; it had been only natural for him to believe whatever was said. And, if he were to be totally honest with himself, Wufei knew he would have reacted in precisely the same way.

Worse probably. If anyone had given him the faintest hint that Zechs had just been playing with him in some way, had been using him, he would have reacted very badly indeed. They were so alike, the two of them, in some ways. They both had problems with trust, they'd both been hurt.

He knew it had to have been worse for Zechs, abandoned by someone he'd truly loved. He hadn't _loved_ Trowa, not really. Not in the sense that he'd felt anything like what he felt for Zechs. That all-consuming desire that wasn't just sexual, but the need to see the other man smile at something he'd said, or to twist a lock of that long, pale hair around one finger, or simply to be near him, or hear his voice. He'd never felt that for Trowa. For anyone.

He'd confessed all of that, along with his apology and Zechs had rolled on top and kissed him until he could hardly breathe.

It wasn't just sexual, no, but that was a part of it.

_Gods, yes._

They'd discussed it as the sky outside Zechs' window started to flush a pearly-pale apricot. Sunrises, like dragonflies, were something he'd never paid overmuch attention to before. That was going to change.

They'd talked about trust, and how it would need time to develop, and how there would be more misunderstandings, in all probability, between two highly opinionated, stubborn, passionate people. Lying with his head resting in the curve of Zechs' shoulder, with all of that gloriously tangled, white-gold hair drifting over them both, and Zechs' hands entwined with his, he'd been able to say things he'd never said to another person.

And they'd taken the first steps toward establishing a belief in one another.

'You're thinking again,' Zechs commented. 'I can hear you.'

'I'm thinking about you. Again.'

'I'm here.' Zech's long, supple body shifted slightly, just enough to roll on to his side, resting his chin on Wufei's right shoulder. 'With you. You can do more than just think about me.'

Wufei considered it. 'I could. Of course. If you liked.'

'I would like. Very much.'

'I'm starting to think that you're insatiable.'

'For you. Yes. Very much. Haven't I told you that you're intoxicating?'

'An actual sentence. And a word of five syllables, no less,' Wufei teased. He'd rather enjoyed the fact that a drowsy, _sated_ Zechs had been apparently incapable of speaking more than two or three words at a time. 'And yes, you have told me. That night in the moon-garden. No one had ever told me that before.'

'Then they were all idiots.' Zechs sighed softly at what Wufei's hands were doing. 'You are. Very. Ah. _God_. Please. Just like that. _Oh_.'

Wufei was smiling as he pushed the blond man on to his back and slid to cover him. Back to monosyllables then. Good.

Then no words at all, from either of them.

He was whispering Zechs' name as he collapsed on top of him, saying it like an endearment, a prayer, a benediction. 'I love you.'

'Mmm. Love you too.'

The tiny piece of Wufei's brain that, miraculously and against all the odds, was still functioning, suggested that falling asleep in bright sunlight might not be a terribly good idea. Very true. But dozing for a few minutes couldn't hurt. He didn't think he _could_ move, anyway, even if he wanted to. Which he most emphatically didn't. And Zechs' eyes had already drifted shut.

'_Querido_.' He whispered it, gently easing himself into a more comfortable position at Zechs' side. He'd let him sleep for ten minutes or so, and then they could go back inside and shower and go back to bed and sleep properly.

He'd just have to stay awake for a little longer. He could do that. One hand, moving of its own volition, slid around the other man's neck, cradling him carefully, and the other tangled itself in all that warmed, sunlit hair, stroking gently.

Zechs mumbled something and he stilled at once.

'Don't stop.'

'I thought you were asleep.'

Zechs snorted. 'With you doing that? Never.'

'How do you feel?'

His smile was a beautiful, slowly-blossoming thing. 'I feel _you_.' He took one of Wufei's hands, placing it, palm down, over his heart. 'Everywhere.'

'Not too sore?'

Another snort. 'Did you hear me complaining? Are you?'

'No. We should probably go and clean up a little bit. Maybe use that gigantic bathtub of yours?'

The blue eyes, bluer than the sky, than the sea, gleamed at him. 'Why bother going all the way upstairs, when there is a pool full of water a few paces away?'

'True.'

He'd always been totally fastidious about cleaning up immediately afterwards, something that had intensely irritated Trowa. With Zechs, it didn't really seem to matter all that much, although the thought of cool water on his bare, warm skin was rather attractive.

'Ever been skinny dipping?'

'Certainly not.'

'This might be a good time to start, then.' Zechs stood up, carefully, wincing just a little bit, and laughed at the guilty look on Wufei's face. 'Stop that. I loved every minute of being pillaged by you. I want to do it to you. I want you to do it again.'

'Demanding,' Wufei noted. Zechs, sliding into the pool, looked like some mystical sea creature. He couldn't remember whether sirens were exclusively female.

'Very.' Lying on his back, Zechs flicked him a grin. 'I was badly spoilt as a child, you know. I was the eldest and the boy. It's made me _very_ demanding.'

'I did notice, actually.' Wufei dipped one foot into the water and shivered slightly. It was only an hour or so since dawn; the sun hadn't had time to take the chill away from the water yet. 'It's cold.'

'If you come in, I'll warm you up.'

Wufei thought of an atrocious joke but didn't say it. He really had been spending too much time with Duo.

The water _was_ cold; probably in contrast to his sun-warmed skin, but he swam a couple of brisk lengths with Zechs at his side.

The thought suddenly occurred to him that if he stayed here, this would be a part of their routine in the morning. Breakfast and a swim and perhaps a run on the beach before he headed to the library and Zechs went to work.

It was very appealing.

'You see?' Zechs flung one arm over the side of the pool, anchoring himself in place, and snagged Wufei with the other. 'It's not that cold.'

'No,' Wufei agreed. It felt good, especially with Zechs' body wrapped around him like that. Especially when Zechs kissed him.

'I wanted to do that the first time I saw you in Quatre's pool,' Zechs confessed. 'You don't know how much. You were just lying in the water, gazing up at the sky like you'd never seen it before. So beautiful.'

'I can't believe that was only - what? Four days ago? Five? It seems like I've known you for so much longer than that.'

'I know. Doesn't it? Perhaps we've somehow managed to tangle up the fabric of time between us? Do you know anything about physics?'

Wufei shook his head. 'I'm a historian, not a scientist. Do you believe in reincarnation? I never used to.'

'Maybe it's simpler than that. Maybe we just recognized something that had been missing from both of our lives?'

Wufei pouted, just because it would make Zechs laugh and kiss him again. 'I was rather liking the idea of us knowing each other in a previous life.'

'I know. And you were the dashingly exotic pirate captain and I was your helpless captive. The gay version of the historical romances my sister reads.'

'I can't imagine you being exactly helpless.'

'Hmm. I don't know. Brought to your cabin, bound hand and foot, awaiting your pleasure. I think I'd be rather powerless in that case. It sounds quite appealing.'

'It does actually.' Wufei felt his breath quicken, both at the absurd little fantasy and at Zechs' hands, trailing slowly down his spine.

'What an appalling fate for me.' Zechs' voice was very low, smooth as raw silks. 'If I didn't please you sufficiently, I could end up being thrown to the sharks. Or to your men.'

'How …would you plan to please me then?' He was very, very proud that his voice didn't waver. Zechs' might be the slave in his fantasy; in their reality, Wufei was entirely enslaved by what the blond was doing to him.

'Like this. Perhaps.' One of the hands resting on his waist strayed slowly upwards, found a nipple and stroked until it peaked, thrust a hard little nub against his palm. Zechs smiled as Wufei moaned, a soft, inarticulate sound of pleasure.

His mouth settled on Wufei's again, as if it belonged there, doing his own share of pillaging.

'You're very forward…for a slave.'

'Aren't I?'

Wufei shuddered as the hot, moist tongue licked across his neck, gasped and squirmed as sharp teeth found his earlobe and nipped.

Very forward. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Wufei twisted free, found Zechs' mouth with his own and returned the kiss avidly.

'Do it.'

'Do what, master?' Damn him, those questing, searching fingers actually paused. There was sheer mischief dancing in those sunlit, impossibly blue eyes.

'Me.'

It was different, in water. Legs wrapped tightly around Zechs's waist, Wufei let his head fall back until he could feel his hair skim the surface of the pool. Like a dragonfly. Flying, as his prince moved inside him.

Sunlight and cool water on his skin and hard, fierce heat within.

Soaring joy.

It was Zechs' voice, smooth and silken and warm with affection, that called him back to reality, and the other man's arms were still wrapped around him, and his eyes were a shade darker than usual from desire.

'I was flying.'

'I know. Come here to me.'

Wufei smiled at the silly command; how, really, could he come any closer than he already was? It was just possible though.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: As I'm quite sure everyone knows by now, I do not own any part of Gundam Wing, nor am I making any monetary profit from writing.

Note: Many, many thanks to KS, for getting me through this one, and to everyone who has reviewed so far. Hurricane Quatre on the horizon!

**Chapter 13:**

'We really should get out, you know. We're going to get sunburnt.'

'Already burnt,' Zechs mumbled, latching one arm tighter around Wufei's waist. 'By you.' Wufei had been saying the same thing for a good ten minutes. He was right, of course. They should get out. They could go back to bed and sleep for a little while and then wake up. That would involve movement thought, and he didn't think he was capable of that, just yet.

He didn't think Wufei was either. At some point, Zechs had had the presence of mind to loop an arm around a rung of the ladder and it was probably the only thing that was keeping them both from drowning.

'Are you?'

'Mmm. Scorched.'

That comment won him a drowsy little smile that was ever so slightly smug, and a scattering of kisses on his shoulder.

'I love dragonflies,' Wufei said dreamily, apparently giving up on any attempts to move for the present. 'Don't you? They're so beautiful.'

'Oh, I adore them. Why exactly are we discussing insects? I can think of much more interesting topics. Like how you beautiful you are like this.'

_Beautiful_, in fact, was inadequate with those silken, black tresses drifting on the pool's surface, and tiny droplets of water gleaming on his golden skin. Perfection, really. Fire and passion and courage wrapped in the most delectable packaging.

Zechs rather liked the idea of the rest of the world seeing only the very correct, serious scholar with his spectacles and that wonderful hair pulled tightly back. He very much liked the idea of being the only one who got to take off those adorable glasses, and loosen the hair.

Wufei's smug little smile deepened a fraction. It hadn't taken him long to learn the art of accepting compliments. Or of paying them, come to that.

'Your eyes are just so blue,' he murmured. 'They were the first thing I noticed about you. Have I told you that? I'd never seen anything so blue.'

Zechs felt himself colour slightly; not so much at the words as at the look in the other man's dark eyes. 'I thought it was my appallingly loud music.'

'Mmm. That too. After all, I _was_ trying to work.'

'Of course you were,' Zechs teased. 'And now look at you. After eight o'clock and not a single word written. Utterly shameful.'

'Shameless, I think is the appropriate term,' Wufei retorted, looking quite happy about it, if a little surprised at himself.

'Shameless is good. Very good, actually.'

'If I ever do get around to finishing my book, I'll have to dedicate to you_. To Zechs, without whom this would have been written in a quarter of the time_.'

'Oh, dear. How am I ever going to live with the guilt of depriving the world of another masterpiece by the great Chang Wufei?'

Wufei stuck his tongue out. 'Very funny. I'm sure you'll manage. You seem to coping quite well so far.'

'I'm very good at hiding the pain behind a mask,' Zechs told him solemnly. 'You know, if you keep sticking your tongue out at me, I'm simply going to have to kiss you.'

'I've been hoping you would.'

'Hmm. Is that an official command?'

Wufei just laughed, those glorious dark eyes gleaming. God, he was just irresistible like this. 'Back to that, are we? Well then, my dear prince, it is a very definite command. I can still have you thrown to the sharks if I don't find you totally satisfactory, remember?'

'I'll just have to do my poor best to ….. satisfy you, then, won't I?' He slid one hand under Wufei's head, raising it slightly out of the water, and slid his mouth over Wufei's, teasing a little at first, then deepening the kiss.

'Oh,' Wufei gasped a little breathlessly. 'If you keep up that sort of thing, I may never be able to write again. May I come and live here and be your toy-boy for the rest of my life?'

'Keep up what sort of thing, exactly?' Zechs tried to look innocent, holding Wufei so close that he couldn't possibly in doubt of what he meant. The Chinese man was an utter aphrodisiac. Intoxicating, as he'd told him on a couple of occasions. 'Of course you may come and live here. I've always wanted my own personal toy-boy to play with. Just don't expect a terribly lavish lifestyle.'

Wufei pouted up at him. _Utterly_ adorable. 'We toy-boys do have certain expectations. And you _do_ live in a castle.'

'A very small castle that's probably going to fall down top of me one day and that I can't afford to renovate. I was rather hoping that if I could ingratiate myself with a certain best-selling author that he might decide to make me into a kept man.'

The man in his arms – whom he had no intention of ever letting out of his arms – snorted with laughter, got water up his nose, and spluttered all over them both. 'Best-selling author! I don't think so! The general public isn't exactly enthralled by histories of ancient China.'

'The public should be,' Zechs said firmly. 'Considering I'm totally enthralled by you.'

'Really?' His expression was suddenly very serious.

'Really, really. All joking aside, _Querido_, I care about you. Very much.' He lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on Wufei's mouth. 'I love you.'

He'd been the first one to say it the previous night, not sure if it was a good idea, so early on, but it was true, and Wufei prized honesty. He'd said it, and been rewarded by Wufei's gasp, and two arms flung around his neck; not _quite_ strangulation, but close, and a kiss that had turned his whole body into liquid fire.

Then Wufei had said it back, a little shyly.

It was a memory Zechs was going to treasure for the rest of his life; the one moment of their night together that he most prized. Wufei had said he loved him.

It had been after midnight though; after they'd both had a little too much wine to drink, after they'd spent hours loving each other.

The sort of thing said in those circumstances didn't always hold true in the clear light of dawn.

Wufei smiled up at him, one finger reaching up to trace a circle around Zechs' mouth. 'Oh, Zechs. I love you too. You don't have to look like that. We said we'd start trusting one another, remember?'

'I remember.'

Wufei laid his head against Zechs' shoulder. 'You're mine now and I have no intention of losing you. My captive and my prince and my love.' He laughed, a little self-consciously. 'That sounds like something out of a romance novel, don't you think? It's true though.'

'I'd quite like to live in a romance novel, actually. One where the characters are constantly talking about how much they adore each other, and then making love.'

'Well, we've already done the talking, so….' The finger resting on Zechs' lips drifted down his throat. 'Perhaps we could move on to the making love?'

'We could do that. Anything you like.'

As enjoyable as it was having those lithe limbs wrapped around him, Zechs decided that possibly it was time to get back on to terra firma. It would be even more enjoyable to lay Wufei down on a sun-lounger and make love without the possibility of him floating away. He even had the smaller man turned back to the edge in preparation when Wufei gave a loud gasp of horror, a sound that had nothing whatsoever to do with Zechs' hands on him.

The warm, slick body in his arms tensed, lost its pliancy instantly, and awkwardly jerked away, plummeting straight to the bottom of the pool.

Quatre Winner, looking almost equally shocked, was standing at the top of the steps.

Perfect timing. Just when everything had been goddamned perfect.

Zechs, who didn't have a particular problem with nudity, swung himself out of the pool, snagging a towel and offering a hand to Wufei, managing to pull him out and wrap him in the towel in one smooth motion.

'Don't worry, _querido_.' He pulled Wufei briefly into his arms, kissing the top of his head and shielding him from the others. 'I'll take care of this. Why don't you go and get dressed?'

Wufei gave him a brief little duck of his head and fled with as much dignity as he could muster, trying not to trip on the over-large towel.

Quatre began to stammer out apologies, and Zechs waved them aside with one hand, taking a towel for himself and giving his friend a quick hug and a wry smile.

'Not that it isn't good to see you again, but your timing is deplorable. I didn't think you'd get here this early.'

'We managed to catch an earlier connecting flight from London. I'm so sorry! I didn't want to disturb Wufei so early in the morning so I thought I'd come here first and…'

'Disturb us both?' Zechs asked quizzically.

'I know you said that you and Wufei were getting along but I didn't think you were….like that. You've only known him a few days! Aren't you rushing things a bit?'

'What makes you think that you have the prerogative on falling in love at first sight?' It came out more sharply than Zechs intended and Quatre winced. 'I'm sorry. It's great to see you; it was just a little unexpected that you turned up when you did.'

'I noticed,' Quatre said dryly, giving him a faint smile. 'I truly am sorry for barging in like that. But Zechs, is this really a good idea? He's only going to be here for a short while. If you do care about him, you're only going to be hurt when he leaves. I don't want that to happen again.'

'What do you want me to do, Quatre? Spend the rest of my life alone because I was hurt once?'

'Of course not. I want you to be happy! But I can't imagine that you two are remotely compatible.'

'I think you can let me the judge of that. And Wufei of course. You've only met him a couple of times. How much do you really know about him?'

'Trowa's told me enough. And I don't want to bring this up, but I know that Treize was the love of your life, and Wufei's nothing like him. I'm sorry, Zechs, but I can't see this working out. He's not the sort of person you need.'

'He's exactly what I need,' Zechs said coolly, wondering just why Wufei was taking so long to come back down. 'I love the fact that he's nothing like Treize. For one thing, he wants me to be more than a pretty accessory to hang on his arm and boost his ego.'

'I'm sorry,' Quatre repeated, tears slowly welling up in those big, blue eyes.

'Quat, don't!' Zechs put an arm around the little blond, and Quatre sobbed helplessly into his shoulder. 'What's wrong?'

'Everything,' Quatre sniffed. 'Trowa, really. I think he wants to break up with me. He hardly talked to me during the flight here, and he's gone for a walk by the sea to think. He's going to leave me and it's all my fault.'

'If he leaves you, he's an idiot,' Zechs said promptly. The problem was, Barton clearly was an idiot. Otherwise he'd never have left Wufei.

'No, he's not,' Quatre said sadly. 'He's right. We had a massive row yesterday morning. Things haven't been going too well lately anyway, and this trip to Canada was supposed to be a break for us both, and then I ended up having to work most of the time, and he said he didn't want to be with someone whose only priority was business.'

'He does have a point. Heero and I have been telling you for years that you work too hard.'

'Yes, but you've never threatened to stop being my friend. He said I have to learn to delegate or I'll have a heart attack before I'm forty and that I'm far too stressed all the time, and that I need to learn to relax and…'

'Shhh,' Zechs rubbed his back gently. 'It doesn't sound like he wants to break up with you. It sounds like he's concerned about you. That's a good thing.'

'I suppose. Then yesterday, he overheard some of what I was saying on the 'phone to you about Wufei and how I didn't think you should get involved and he was furious with me. He said Wufei was the most honourable person he'd ever met, and he wouldn't just string someone along and that I should mind my own business and think about my own relationship instead of worrying about other people, and then he said,' his voice faltered, 'that maybe we should take a break.'

'Oh, Quat. You do know he's right, don't you? You spend way too much time thinking about everyone else. Listen, you go home, take a shower and a nap and find Trowa and talk to him. Seriously. Tell him you care about him, and that you'll make more time to be with him. OK?'

Quatre nodded dolefully. 'You don't think he's still in love with Wufei, do you?'

'He's the one who wanted to break up in the first place.' Zechs spoke with a confidence he was very far from feeling. If Trowa did leave Quatre, well, he and Wufei had a long history. Wufei had even confessed that he still had feelings for his ex. What if he decided he wanted to be with the newly single Trowa? 'Quat, I'd better go and see if Wufei's OK. Call me. And good luck.'

He entered the house just in time to hear the front door slam as someone left it. Damn. Yes, Wufei had been startled and a bit embarrassed, but surely that was no reason to storm off. For someone who'd practically been a liquid puddle in his arms a few minutes ago, Wufei could move fast. He was already halfway down the drive when Zechs caught up with him.

'Wufei, wait! Wait! Where are you running off to?'

'I'm not _running off_.' Wufei glared at him. 'I'm leaving. Don't worry. You stay and talk to Quatre. You seemed to be perfectly happy without me. I saw the two of you snuggled up from the bathroom window.'

'Wufei, stop.' Zechs took a step forward and slid both arms around him. Wufei didn't exactly resist, but he didn't let himself relax either. 'I'm sorry. I am truly sorry. I thought you just wanted to spend a little while by yourself before coming back down. Quatre was really upset; things aren't going well with him and Trowa. He's very sorry for walking in on us like that.'

Wufei sniffed. 'Quatre has a perfectly good house of his own, next door. Why didn't he go there?'

'He didn't want to disturb you so early in the morning. _Querido_, he was just trying to be thoughtful. Quatre didn't know if you'd even got his messages that they were arriving today.'

'What messages?' Wufei glared up at him. 'He never sent me any messages.'

'He's been trying to call you since yesterday morning. And he and Trowa have both sent emails.'

Wufei shook his head; he'd dragged his hair back into that punishingly tight ponytail, Zechs noted with a little pang. Not so much as one strand drifted loose. 'I used up all my 'phone credit talking to Meiran yesterday. I did buy some in Marbella but I forgot to put it on my account. And I haven't been checking my emails at all. Not since before breakfast yesterday.'

'That explains it, then. My fault, probably for distracting you.' Zechs ran a hand up Wufei's back, wincing at how very tense he felt. 'He and Trowa caught an earlier connecting flight from Toronto; I didn't think they'd be here until this afternoon.'

'_What_?' Wufei jerked free, the glare back in full force. 'Trowa's here too? You knew they were due to arrive? What are they doing here? And you didn't think that maybe I should know something like that?'

'I assumed you knew,' Zechs said quietly. 'I talked to Quatre yesterday, just before you and Duo got back. You know that. Quatre wanted to be here for Heero's presentation. It was stupid of me, but I just assumed that at some point you'd got one of the messages from him or Trowa, or that Duo had said something, and then we…well, then I wasn't thinking about anything but you.'

'Duo knew as well? He never told me!' Wufei took a deep breath, visibly trying to pull himself together. 'This is awful.'

'It's not that bad,' Zechs took a step closer, reaching out to take one of Wufei's hands. 'Really. I promise, Quatre was every bit as embarrassed as you were, and..'

'Not that bad?' Wufei echoed wildly. 'I was naked. We both were! And we were almost…oh, gods! He nearly caught us having sex! It was mortifying! I don't understand how you're so calm about all of this.'

'I'm not calm. I'm worried about you, and that's affecting me far more than a little embarrassment on my own account.'

'Oh.' Wufei's dark eyes searched his face, and some of the tension left his own expression. 'I'm sorry. I'm probably over-reacting about all of this. It's just…'

'I know, love,' Zechs murmured. 'It's all right. Really, it's not that important. We'll be able to laugh about it one day.'

Wufei shuddered. 'I never want to _think_ about it again!'

'All right, then. We'll forget it. Will you come back home now? I promise, Quatre won't ever want to think about it again either.'

'What; is he still there? In that case, I'm certainly not going back! I'll never be able to look him in the face again.'

'Wufei, please, calm down. Quatre's gone home; it's fine. You weren't nearly this upset when Duo walked in on us yesterday.'

'We weren't naked yesterday!' Wufei snapped. 'I'm so sorry if I'm awkward about this sort of thing. Just because _you_ don't mind going around in the nude doesn't mean that everyone is comfortable with it. Most people aren't. And Duo's different. Quatre's always so proper about everything.'

'Are you ashamed of me?' Zechs questioned softly. 'If you feel so badly about anyone seeing us together?'

'Of course that's not it! But some things are private, not to be shared with anyone. That's how I feel anyway.' His voice trailed off uncertainly.

'It's how I feel too,' Zechs assured him.

Wufei shrugged. 'I'm just not comfortable around him. Especially after the things he said about me yesterday. If he really thinks I'm the sort of person who would use you just for sex and then abandon you when it suits me, then I don't want to be around him.'

'Don't say that,' Zechs begged. 'He didn't mean anything of the sort. He's just terribly protective and he didn't want me to be hurt. Can you please come back to the house with me?'

'So he thought I was planning to hurt you,' Wufei said crisply. 'I'm sorry. I know he's a friend of yours but that doesn't mean I have to like him. And no, I think I just need to be by myself for a while.'

'It feels like you're walking away from me.' Zechs didn't even bother to hide how miserable that made him feel, and Wufei pressed his mouth to his in a quick kiss.

'I'm not. I swear. I just want to go for a walk and think about things a little bit. I promise, I won't be long.'

He was already out of sight, rounding the first turn in the drive, before Zechs remembered. If Wufei went to the beach, he would probably meet Trowa. All he could do was trust in his new lover, and summoning that sort of faith, no matter how much he wanted to, was a knotty proposition.

His over-creative imagination, given the chance, could conjure up all sorts of scenarios involving the two of them.

No, he wasn't going to think like that. He was going to trust Wufei, who had said he loved him, even though the wait for his return was likely to resemble an eternity.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer – ah, they aren't mine. Not in any way, shape or form.

Note – Thanks to KS for editing and putting them on the log, and to everyone who's been kind enough to make my day by reviewing.

**Chapter 14:**

As soon as he'd walked away from Zechs, Wufei headed for the harbour, and that in itself showed just how much he'd changed over the past few days. He'd spent a lifetime wrestling independently with his own problems and believed he'd been a stronger person because of it.

Now, his first instinct was to go to Duo.

His friend was nowhere in sight when he approached the _Peacemillion_. Heero was there, though, standing by the rail and drinking coffee and glaring at a couple of hovering seagulls. He acknowledged Wufei with a brief nod.

'If you're looking for Duo, he's in the shower. Can you wait a few minutes?'

Wufei nodded back, stepping on board under Heero's mildly curious gaze.

'Is everything all right?'

'Not really,' Wufei admitted, desperately needing to talk to someone. Anyone.

Heero looked slightly panicked. 'I'll get Duo. Duo! Can you come up here? Now!'

Duo, dressed in microscopic shorts and with a sopping mane of hair trailing down his back, ran on deck. 'What's wrong, babe? Oh, hey, Wufei.'

'He needs to talk to you. And I need to go.'

Duo gave Wufei a quick grin. 'Just give me a sec, OK?' Turning to Heero, he wrapped both arms around his partner's neck and gave him what looked like an incredibly thorough kiss. 'I'll see you later, babe. Don't worry about anything; I know you're going to be amazing. Call me.'

Heero said something in his partner's ear, too softly for Wufei to hear, but that made Duo blush, gave Wufei another nod, and headed for his car.'

'Sorry he wasn't being his usual sociable self, but he's totally freaking about this presentation. He hates the thought of speaking in public.'

'That's not until tomorrow, isn't it?'

Duo nodded. 'Yeah. But there's a load of visiting oceanographers and biologists arriving today, and he's got to give this big welcome speech and stuff. He's petrified, was up at four listening to his seaweed tapes.'

'I didn't know seaweed makes noise. Unless you pop it.' He'd done that on the beach for the first time the other day.

'Shit, don't tell Heero you've ever done that; he thinks it's murder. And no, it doesn't really make a sound. I think it just blows in the breeze or ripples seductively in the water or something.' He laughed. 'I knew he really loved me the first time he said my hair reminded him of Laminaria; that's a type of kelp. It's actually kind of pretty. Anyway, you didn't come here to listen to all that. What's up? I thought you and Zechs were firing on all cylinders last night? Did something go wrong?'

'Not last night, no.' Wufei blushed, and kept on resolutely. 'Last night was fine.'

'Fine?' Duo tossed his sodden mass of hair over one shoulder and gave him a straight look. 'I damn well hope it was better than that.'

'It was. It was…. I don't know how to describe it.'

Duo whistled. 'That good? Cool! So what's the big deal? Don't you respect him any more?'

'Of course I do!' Wufei buried his face in his hands. 'It all went wrong this morning. We were in the pool and kissing and when I looked up, Quatre was standing there.'

'And?' Duo looked at him curiously.

'We were naked!'

'I'm guessing Quat's seen naked guys before. What's the big deal?'

'_What's the big deal?'_ Wufei hissed. 'Haven't you listened to a word I've said?'

'Yes. I don't get why you're so worked up though. Were you having sex?'

'No! We were just kissing…and holding each other.'

Another blank look. 'So? You weren't nearly this freaked out when I walked in on you guys yesterday.'

'We weren't naked then! And you're my friend. Quatre's so prim and proper; I'll never be able to look him in the face again.'

Duo spluttered with laughter. 'Well, he's probably feeling the same way about you right now. Or any other part of your anatomy. I guess they got an earlier flight than they'd planned. I didn't think they were arriving 'til this afternoon.'

'Zechs told me that you knew they were coming. How long are they staying? Why did you not tell me?'

'Heero only told me last night. They're only here for a couple of nights. Quat wants to be there for Heero's thing tomorrow. Didn't he call you? He told Heero he was trying to get in touch with you.'

'I didn't know. Do you think I can book into a hotel in Marbella or somewhere until they go?'

'Why would you want to do that? You can stay with Zechs, surely. Or here, though it might be a bit cramped. You don't mean to tell me that you're running away from home because Quatre saw you in the nude?'

'It isn't just _that_.' Wufei took a deep breath, sliding down to sit on the sun-warmed deck. 'He rang Zechs yesterday afternoon, while we were out together, and told him all kinds of awful things about me, that I was planning to leave soon and that I was just using him, and I'd never intended to stay around. I honestly don't want to be anywhere near him right now.'

Duo sighed, flopping down beside him and shaking his wet hair, drenching Wufei in the process.

'Look, here's the thing, and you're probably not going to like it. If you're as serious about Zechs as I think you are, you're going to have to accept that Quatre's a part of his life. They've been friends since they were kids, and I know he helped Zechs a lot after his parents died. He's not just going to cut Quat out of his life.'

Wufei glared at him. 'What - and I'm supposed to sit back and let him try to split us up?'

'Never said that. You should call him on what he did. If he realises you're serious about Zechs, he'll probably lay off. Actually, speaking from bitter experience, you're better off having it out with him sooner rather than later. When Heero and I got together, he did his damnedest to break us up. He made certain assumptions about me based on how I dress, and the fact that I like to flirt a bit, and decided I wasn't nearly good enough for a friend of his and that Heero didn't need to be with some slutty guy like me.'

'I certainly can't see Heero standing by and letting Quatre insult you,' Wufei commented, mentally chalking up another black mark against Quatre. 'Did he really call you that?'

'Not in so many words, but it was pretty obvious that he thought it. The thing is Quat's pretty damn sneaky when he wants, and Heero's not so great at the emotional stuff, and we did fight a lot the first few months we got together.' He gave Wufei a little grin. 'I'm pretty slow; it took me a while to work out that him chasing me whenever I ran off meant that he really had to care about me. Anyway, I think Quatre must have said something pretty bad about me one day and Heero just about took his head off. Things got better after that; he's not a bad guy, you know. You just can't let him get away with anything.'

'I thought you didn't like him.'

Duo looked faintly surprised. 'I like him all right when he's not trying to interfere in stuff that's none of his business. I've had to sit him down a couple of times and tell him to back off.' The grin returned. 'It's sort of like training a dog; you have to set boundaries and be really strict about keeping them enforced. Heero and Zechs give him way too much slack.'

Wufei sniffed. 'I have no intention of letting him get away with _anything_. Zechs and I are a couple and he'll just have to accept that.'

'Way to go! Keep that attitude and you'll be fine. You look great, by the way. That colour really suits you.'

'Does it?' Wufei glanced down at himself; he'd had no idea what he was wearing. He'd just grabbed the first of his carrier bags and thrown on the contents.

'Yeah. You should wear green more often. And leave the hair down.' He deftly reached out and flicked off Wufei's hair elastic. 'Much better. Why d'you tie it back all the time anyway?'

'It gets in my eyes. It's annoying.'

'Well, sometimes you have to suffer to look good. Here!' He produced a triangle of faded red cloth from one pocket and handed it over. 'Ever worn a bandana? Cool! Now you look like a pirate! Look out, Quatre. Captain Wufei's on the horizon.'

Wufei couldn't help laughing. He and Zechs had already begun to work on that particular fantasy but his lover _did_ like to see his hair down. 'What, do you think we should fight a duel or something?'

'Over Zechs' swooning body?' Duo grinned at him, and then sobered. 'Listen, don't be too hard on Quat. He's had a pretty crappy life, just between us. Mother died giving birth to him, father blamed him and farmed him out to nannies and then boarding school once he was old enough. That's where he met Zechs and 'Ro, so they're sort of like a surrogate family for him, and really, he's just terrified of losing them.'

'That's awful.' Wufei shook his head, unable to imagine a situation like that. He'd grown up in a huge extended family; even though his parents had mostly been preoccupied with their own careers, he'd never doubted their love and support and there had been grandparents and aunts to indulge him.

'Yeah. I never had any proper family either, so I guess I do sort of identify with him a bit. And I know that he's always been there for Zechs and Heero. I'm not saying you have to be his best bud or anything; just realise that those three have been close since they were little kids. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to deprive Heero of that sort of support. Even if I do want to whack Quat over his cute blond head sometimes.'

'Point taken. I'll try to be civil, at least. Thank you.'

'No problemo. You want to go get an ice cream or something?'

Wufei shook his head at the abrupt subject change. 'I don't think I've eaten ice cream since I was a little boy.'

'Then you're seriously missing out. I know this great place that does a zillion different flavours. I'll just go below and grab a t-shirt and my wallet.'

He hadn't been exaggerating, Wufei decided ten minutes later, gazing at a rainbow-bright display. He'd hadn't realised ice-cream came in so many flavours. Or colours.

'So, what d'you fancy?'

'I have no idea,' Wufei said honestly. 'Something simple. Vanilla, I think.'

Duo gave him a nudge with one elbow. 'Vanilla's boring! You can come up with something better than that.'

He went with Duo's suggestions, ending up with a towering cone of raspberry sorbet, topped with chocolate and pistachio.

'How is it?'

'Cold.' Wufei wasn't entirely sure whether he liked it or not. 'Very sweet.'

'Excellent definition of ice cream!' Duo laughed at him, happily digging into his own confection and not noticing that a couple of other customers were practically drooling over him. 'So, how d'you feel about meeting Trowa again? When was the last time you saw him?'

'Trowa? Gods, I'd almost forgotten he was here as well.' Unbelievable, but it was perfectly true. 'At least he wasn't with Quatre at the pool! Gods, that would have been even more embarrassing!'

'Why would it?' Duo gave him a sly little grin. 'You don't want your ex to see you wrapped around your new squeeze, who happens to be one seriously hot guy? Show him he's not the only one who can pick up blonds when he wants to?'

Wufei shrugged. 'I don't care about that sort of thing. Trowa and I are still friends.'

He wasn't entirely sure how true that was, really. After the most amicable separation in recorded history, they'd certainly gone through the motions of staying friends, carefully arranging to meet once a week or so to see a movie, or work out at the gym. There had always been some sort of activity to focus on, and no time for any real conversation.

Quatre had been the one to organise lunches and dinners for the three of them, and the one who talked during most of them, while Trowa gazed adoringly at him.

'Yeah? Are you looking forward to seeing him again? My friend Hilde says that the only way you can stay friends with an ex is if you were never really in love in the first place.'

'I don't know,' Wufei said honestly, deciding he didn't much care for pistachio ice-cream. 'Maybe she's right. Maybe we didn't really feel that strongly about each other. It certainly didn't take him long to move on after we broke up.'

That was it, probably; the thing that hurt the most. He'd tried hard to understand what Trowa had wanted; the silly fairytale romance. He hadn't tried to stop the other man leaving him. In all honesty, they'd been getting on rather well straight after the break-up, getting back to the friendship they'd had before becoming lovers. And then, before he'd had time to adjust to the new situation, Trowa had met Quatre.

'We've been getting on all right. We had dinner a couple of weeks ago, the three of us, and he's emailed me a couple of times since I got here.'

Duo nodded. 'I'm asking because he's actually outside and it looks like he's coming in.'

'_What_?' It was perfectly true and Wufei felt a quite ridiculous little moment of panic. _Quite_ ridiculous.

'Wufei?' He tended to forget how tall Trowa was; not as tall as Zechs but still imposing enough. And his eyes were that amazing green. Not blue. 'Good to see you. Do you think we could talk for a few minutes?'

'Sure,' Duo beamed up at him. 'Nice to see you too. What d'you want to talk about?'

Trowa looked slightly off-balance for a moment. 'Sorry, Duo. Hello. Would you mind if I spoke to Wufei alone?'

'Yes, actually,' Duo said impishly. 'We were in the middle of a conversation. It's not really that polite to barge in on two people and just ignore one of them, you know. Hasn't Quatre taught you better manners than that?'

'Duo, leave it,' Wufei told him firmly. Things were awkward enough without a fight starting. 'Please. I should be going anyway; I told Zechs I wouldn't be long. Trowa, I'm going to walk back along the beach. You can come if you want to talk to me. Duo, I'll call you later.'

'Make sure you do.' His friend reached up with a napkin and wiped Wufei's mouth. 'Ice cream,' he whispered. 'You'd better go before Barton tries to kill me for touching you like that. And for the record, he may be with Quat, but he isn't over you. Not the way he's looking at you.'

Wufei was silent as they headed down the path from the harbour to the sea. They both were, which, he supposed, had been a fairly normal state of affairs for them. With Zechs, he indulged all those flights of fancy, talked about anything and everything and nothing. His conversations with Trowa had been primarily factual.

'I almost didn't recognise you,' Trowa said finally. 'Not with your hair like that, and in those clothes.'

Following the flight of a seagull over the waves, Wufei concentrated very hard on not blushing.

Those clothes…Duo had insisted on him buying the sea-green, sleeveless t-shirt, which was made of some fabric that clung to his chest. He hadn't planned ever to wear it, though. Well, not in public. Perhaps for Zechs, in the moon-garden some night. But he'd grabbed it without thinking and Duo had been right; Trowa was definitely _looking_ at him. What was that supposed to mean? Trowa was the one who'd left; the one who'd claimed it hadn't been working out.

'I thought you were some hippy friend of Duo's at first.'

'I could hardly wear a suit on a beach,' Wufei said sniffily.

'Wufei, I didn't mean it like that. You look amazing. I'm sorry.' He stopped walking, turning to face the other man. 'I'm sorry. I've just come off a long flight; my brain's not working too well. Can we start this conversation over? I meant it when I said it was good it see you. I was worried about you. We both were.'

'I have no idea why.'

'Because we've been trying to contact you since early yesterday morning. You weren't answering your 'phone, you weren't replying to your emails. I know you; you're never out of contact like that.'

Wufei shrugged. 'And you thought – what exactly? That I'd gone and drowned myself for love of you?'

'No,' Trowa said quietly. 'Not that. But you are in a strange country, and you don't know anyone, and you've been depressed for months.'

'I have not!' He hadn't. He'd been sad, yes. That was perfectly natural, following the break up of a long term relationship and the loss of a close friend. But he hadn't been depressed. He'd been coping perfectly well.

Trowa sighed. 'Fine. I know you don't like talking about this kind of thing, but I know that I hurt you when I left. And I do still care about you.'

Staring out to sea, Wufei took a deep breath. 'You did hurt me, yes.' It felt odd to admit it aloud, to Trowa. He'd tried so hard to pretend it hadn't mattered. 'I'm so sorry I didn't latch on to the first convenient blond I met, so you could feel better about what you'd done.'

'Quatre wasn't just convenient,' Trowa said tightly. 'I love him.'

'So you've told me. How lovely for you both. What did that make me, Trowa? If you never loved me, what was I? A nice easy fuck until you met your one true love? Do you have the slightest idea how that makes me feel?'

'It wasn't like that,' Trowa snapped. 'Of _course_ I never felt like that about you! You were never exactly forthcoming with your feelings, were you? Half the time, I never knew if you were going to treat me as your boyfriend or your roommate or whether it would be convenient for you to spend time with me. And when you were writing, I could have spontaneously combusted in front of you and you'd have ignored me, Fuck, when I told you I wanted us to break up, you acted like you couldn't have cared less.'

'What was I _supposed_ to do? Cry? Beg you on my knees to stay?' Wufei gave a contemptuous little sniff. 'That wouldn't have made any difference, would it? You'd still have chosen Quatre and I would have humiliated myself for nothing.'

'Telling someone how you feel about them is hardly humiliating.'

'It is when they're already made it very clear that they don't want to be with you, and that they've already found your replacement, who just happens to be their perfect soulmate.' Wufei bit his lip; his voice had been quavering on the last few words. 'So, you tell me, Trowa, since you're the expert on relationships. What should I have done?'

Gods, he couldn't believe he'd actually said of that aloud. Shaken, Wufei collapsed on to a convenient driftwood log. Trowa stood looking at him for a minute and then sat beside him, carefully not touching.

'I'm sorry.' Trowa spoke very quietly. 'I'm so sorry that I hurt you. We were friends, once, before anything else. I'd really like to be your friend again, it that's possible. Not just the way we've been for the past year, but properly. I miss you, 'Fei. A lot.'

'I miss you too,' Wufei mumbled, meaning it.

'I'm sorry I screwed everything up for you. Maybe it did work out in the end though. I hear you and Zechs are a bit of an item.'

'Rather more than that, actually,' Wufei said firmly. He'd meant to stalk off, having got rid of all that raw emotion, but Trowa looked perfectly miserable. And, in a backhanded sort of way, it was due to Trowa that he'd met Zechs.

The other man shook his head, hair tumbling down over his forehead. 'I'd never have thought of you two hooking up.'

'What's that supposed to mean? That someone like me couldn't possibly hold his attention for long?'

'No! Come on, of all people, I should know just how enthralling you are. I just meant that he has a certain reputation.'

'That's my concern,' Wufei said tartly. _Enthralling_. Zechs had called him that. Trowa had never said anything like that when they'd been together, and he would have probably scoffed if he'd tried. 'And if I were all that enthralling, why did you want to leave in the first place?' He knew if probably came out sounding petulant and whiny, but he didn't care at this point.

'Because…' Trowa sat up straight suddenly, shaking his hair back. 'Because I knew – I thought I knew – how it _could_ have been between us. That we could have been a proper couple. Not just good friends who slept together when they felt like it. And there were times, just a few, when it was like that. I did try to explain it to you, but I didn't do it very well, I think.'

'That's how it is with Zechs,' Wufei said softly, suddenly realising what Trowa meant. Trowa was a good friend; they'd lived harmoniously together; they'd been compatible sexually. But it had never been love.

The truth, if he were to be brutally honest, was that he'd been missing Trowa far more as his best friend, one of a tiny handful of people whom he could trust and confide in than as a lover. 'And you, you feel like that with Quatre?'

Trowa shrugged. 'I did. I think we're through.'

'_What_?' Wufei stared at him. Zechs had mentioned the two of them having problems, but not like this. 'I thought you two were, well, perfect together.'

And he'd resented it. Resented seeing them together, in all their shining happiness. The way the little blond looked at Trowa, like he was the most marvellous being in creation. Perfect Quatre, all warm and impulsive and openly loving. Everything that Wufei wasn't.

_Hadn't been_, he corrected himself. With Zechs, he could be just like that. Zechs made him _want_ to be like that.

'What's the matter?'

Another shrug. 'Everything. I guess once the honeymoon period was over, Quatre threw himself back into his job. He'd taken some time off to be with me and he had to make that up and he's obsessed with trying to please his father. I can literally count the number of hours we've spent together in the last month.'

'He does have an important job,' Wufei offered.

'Yeah, but he doesn't have to live in his office. He kept promising that things would change once this deal or that merger went through, but it never did. We had a fight yesterday, just before going to the airport, about all kinds of stuff. I don't know. Maybe we should just call it quits.'

'That's getting to be a pattern, isn't it? You find someone, and then it doesn't work out exactly the way you'd wanted so you just give up and move on? If you love him, maybe you should try to work it out. He's always seemed to be crazy about you. I think, well, Duo said that sometimes you just need to be tough with him. _Tell_ him to leave work at a certain time or you'll come and drag him by the hair. That sort of thing.'

Trowa gaped at him. 'Are you seriously giving me relationship advice?'

'Just passing it on, actually.' Wufei winked at him. 'He might like it if you go all masterful.'

Zechs had liked it….

Oh Gods. He'd been gone for well over an hour, and poor Zechs was probably still waiting for him.

'I have to go.' He stood up hurriedly, thinking of the look in Zechs' eyes, those beautiful blue eyes, when he'd left.

'_It feels like you're walking away from me.'_

That was what he'd said, and Wufei had just given him that one quick, awkward kiss for reassurance and then left. He'd walked away from the man he loved without a backward glance, and left him waiting. Damn.

'Good luck with Quatre.'

'Good luck with Zechs.' Trowa grinned. 'Not that you need it. From what he's told Quatre, he seems to be totally head over heels about you. I'm glad you've found someone who cares for you that much.'

'It's mutual.' Wufei hesitated, and then gave him a quick, awkward hug. 'I'll see you tomorrow. I need to find him. We've got some unfinished business to take care of from earlier.'

He shivered slightly, remembering how it had felt to have that hard, warm body pressed against his. Oh, yes, there was definitely unfinished business between them. They would barricade the castle doors if necessary, but this time there were going to be no interruptions.

He pointed up the beach toward Quatre's villa. 'And you need to talk to Quatre.' He winked. 'Make sure you keep him occupied for the next twenty four hours or so. Zechs and I don't need any visitors for the immediate future.'

.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, and make no profit from any of this.

Note: apologies for the delay on this one. Many thanks to Kaeru Shisho, for all her help, to Wolfje, who started it all by asking for a Zechs/Wufei story, and to everyone who has been kind enough to comment.

**Chapter 15:**

The Lowe Marine Institute – which Wufei had vaguely imagined as some sort of giant aquarium – turned out to be a fiercely modern-looking building which could have been the headquarters of a bank or a large corporation.

Not that he actually had time to notice it as he and Zechs parked and rushed inside. They were running late.

Correction; they were running _very_ late. They'd woken late; breakfast had gone on for the remainder of the morning, and then Zechs had suggested a brief 'siesta' upstairs, after which they'd taken a short nap, and woken with their arms tangled around each other, and then had to take a bath and suddenly it had been time to get ready.

Normally, he hated being late. This time, he was only vaguely concerned. Duo was saving them seats; hopefully far from where Quatre was sitting, and they still had ten minutes before Heero was due to speak, even if they had missed the reception which had started an hour ago.

He was far, far too happy to care about anything, anyway.

And Zechs looked so good, Wufei thought dreamily, admiring his boyfriend's long legs in his exquisitely tailored suit. He looked really, _really_ good, actually.

'_Querido_,' the blond stopped suddenly, smiling at him. 'If you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to find a broom cupboard or something and drag you inside.'

'Is that supposed to be some sort of disincentive?' Wufei sparkled up at him. The smile that had apparently taken root on his face bloomed even wider. A broom cupboard sounded fun. 'If so, it isn't working.'

Zechs took his hand, regardless of the fact that there were other people hurrying through the corridor. 'Ah. I'm starting to see how it is. You reeled me in with that adorably shy act of yours, and now you feel certain you've got me hooked, you're showing me just how demanding you can be.'

'That's it,' Wufei agreed blithely. 'Although I thought you'd realised the _demanding_ thing earlier. Yesterday perhaps?'

'Yesterday?' the blond echoed. 'When, precisely, was I supposed to have had time for anything so frivolous as thought yesterday?'

'Then that proves the whole _demanding_ thing,' Wufei retorted neatly. He didn't think he'd ever smiled so much in his entire life. He'd set out from the beach with the intention of showing Zechs just how much he cared about him. The man, unbelievably, had been worried about him meeting Trowa. He hadn't said as much; Wufei had inferred it from the wistful way he'd asked how his walk had gone.

A few days ago, he would have been hurt or insulted that Zechs could have thought so little of him. Somehow, that had paled before the look his boyfriend had given him when he'd walked back through that massive wooden door. Zechs had taken him in his arms, and had scarcely let go since.

'Have I really got you hooked?'

'Very much so.'

'I like that,' Wufei said dreamily. He _loved_ this; all the silly flirting and teasing, and he especially loved the way Zechs was looking at him.

'I _could_ stand here and look at you all night,' Zechs smiled at him, 'but it does seem rather a shame to miss Heero's speech, since we did manage to drag ourselves out of bed for it.'

'Mmm.' Wufei fell into step beside him as the other man tugged at his hand. 'I suppose. How long do you think it's going to be?'

Zechs half-turned to look at him; one pale eyebrow raised and a smile dancing on his lips. 'Really, I thought you'd have known by this stage exactly how long it's going to be.'

'Zechs!' Damn, he'd thought he'd got out of that ridiculous habit of blushing. 'You know perfectly well I wasn't talking about that!'

'Now, Wufei,' his aggravating, beautiful boyfriend retorted. 'I knew nothing of the sort.' He shook his head sadly. 'With you, everything seems to have a habit of coming around to sex.'

'You're the one who's talking about _coming_,' Wufei parried, and had the satisfaction of seeing spots of colour flare briefly in Zechs' cheeks.

'Enough,' he said firmly. 'Pure, clean thoughts for the next hour or so.'

That was going to be hard, ah, difficult, Wufei decided, following the other man into a large auditorium. Duo had kept them front row seats and beamed as they sat down.

'I can't believe you guys actually made it! I was pretty sure nothing short of heavy artillery would get you out of bed today.'

Zechs laughed. 'We both have excellent willpower.' He was still holding Wufei's hand, thumb tracing the surface lightly. Wufei wasn't sure anymore how good his willpower was. 'How is Heero?'

'Communing with some of his favourite seaweed to calm him down, I think,' Duo grinned. He was looking unexpectedly demure with practically all of his skin covered for once. 'Seriously, thanks for coming, guys. I hope you won't be too bored. If you are, just imagine Heero naked. That should keep you awake.'

Wufei sniffed. 'Thank you. I'd much rather imagine my own boyfriend naked.'

'What? You have to imagine that? I thought you'd know what the real deal looked like.'

'Funny. Not.'

Zechs, on the other side of Wufei, laughed softly, apparently enjoying the banter and then Heero, looking very determined in a 'do or die' way, stepped out on to the podium.

He was actually a good speaker; very knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, and some of the slides he used as illustrations were beautiful. It still wasn't quite enough to hold Wufei's interest.

He didn't, really, want to visualise Heero in the nude. Zechs, though, was a totally different matter. It was all too easy to imagine – to remember – him, sprawled over tangled sheets and smelling of sex.

Oh, Gods.

He'd spent most of the last thirty six hours wrapped around the other man in a variety of positions. They'd even slept, finally, in a sweet tangle of bodies. Somehow, in that fairly brief period, he'd become accustomed to Zechs touching him; to touching Zechs. The light handclasp wasn't a remotely acceptable substitute. A week ago, he would have considered that blameless touch, even in a darkened room where no one was watching them, unacceptable.

Now, he wanted more. He wanted Zechs' hand to be somewhere else entirely.

He shouldn't be thinking about that here. Wufei crossed his legs, determinedly trying to block out those sorts of images. It didn't work. It didn't help when Zechs shifted slightly closer, close enough to feel the warmth of his body.

This was going to be a long, very long lecture. Duo was gazing raptly at his partner, possibly imagining him naked. Zechs was looking at Heero, very fixedly, but his fingers had begun to travel up Wufei's arm, stroking the curve of his elbow. He'd only found out the previous night that that was a sensitive, almost ticklish spot.

Wufei had spent years, over twenty of them, practising self discipline and control techniques. Heero's lecture lasted a little over an hour; long enough for him to realise he hadn't mastered any of them. Not in certain circumstances.

After Heero's speech there were questions from the audience. Interminable questions. Then Duo wanted to introduce him to some of Heero's colleagues, who were also coming to the party, and give him a brief tour of the building.

When they finally escaped into the darkened car park, they'd spent almost two hours with no physical contact except a light touch of hands. Not so long ago, Wufei would have thought even that unpardonably indecent in public. Not any more.

'Do we absolutely have to go to this party?' he asked as Zechs fished for his keys. He hoped it didn't come out sounding like as much of a whine as he feared.

'I'm afraid so. We don't have to stay _too_ long. I thought we might leave the car at the harbour and walk home along the beach, if you'd like that?'

'I'd like that.'

'I thought you might.' Zechs' eyes; electric, eldritch blue under a streetlamp, gleamed. 'I have another idea. There's a rather lovely viewpoint overlooking the sea on the way home. We could park there and admire the scenery for a few minutes. It should be quite deserted now.'

They were late getting to the party. Very late. After a lifetime of determined punctuality, that particular virtue seemed to have evaporated.

Wufei didn't normally enjoy parties; given the choice, he would have far preferred to go home. A night spent alone with Zechs would be so much more pleasant than having to make small talk with strangers and run risk of having to talk to Quatre.

Still, Duo had invited them, and it wouldn't have been polite not to turn up, even for a short time.

'Pretty, huh?' Duo was leaning against the mast as they came aboard. _Peacemillion_ had been transformed. Strings of twinkling fairylights had been looped around her rigging and old-fashioned ships' lanterns hung from the mast.

And there were plenty of people, which was good. It would make avoiding Quatre much easier. Walking back home after meeting Trowa the previous day, he'd worked out a strategy. Duo had been right; Quatre, whatever his many faults, was a part of Zechs' life, and he would have to deal with that, and at least be civil. Provided Quatre stopped that infernal meddling.

'It all looks beautiful,' Wufei said admiringly. 'Duo, I'm sorry. I never even offered to help this morning, and I made you listen to all of my problems.'

'No problem, really. I had Hilde and a couple of other friends here all afternoon. It was pretty good fun. If you'd really like to help out, you can swing by tomorrow when I have to take it all down. That's the really boring part.'

'Of course I will.'

Duo shot him an impish little grin. 'Well, if Zechsy lets you of the bedroom, I'll see you sometime. No hurry. I've no intention of letting Heero out of bed too early.' He waved at a couple of new arrivals. 'Listen, I'd better go and do the host thing. You guys have fun. Drinks and food over there. Help yourselves.'

Two minutes later, Wufei looked down at the glass Zechs had handed him; it looked like a fruit salad in lemonade.

'What is it?'

'Sangria. It should be rum, really, but these Japanese and American pirates have no respect for tradition.'

'Back to pirates again, are we?' Wufei took a sip of his drink; it tasted like fruit juice but there was a definite kick as he swallowed.

'We are on a pirate ship.' Zechs set down his own glass. 'Shall we dance?'

'Um, if you like. I'm not very good at it though.'

'Maybe you've been waiting for the right partner? Come on.'

Zechs was, most definitely, the right partner, Wufei decided a few seconds later.

'Happy?'

'Blissfully so.' Wufei rested his head on Zechs' shoulder, one hand placed over his heart. 'I've never been so happy in my whole life.'

After a couple of slow dances, the music changed to something faster; Wufei shook his head at his partner's questioning glance and Zechs led him away from the other dancers.

'We should eat something, you know. It's been a long time since breakfast.' One blue eye winked solemnly. 'We do have quite a walk home; you'll want to keep up your strength.'

'It's not _that_ far.'

'It is if we take the scenic route.' Zechs bent to kiss him, very softly, on the mouth. 'I'll get us something to eat, and then we can probably excuse ourselves and leave, don't you think?'

Wufei nodded; he was enjoying the party, far more than he'd expected to, but it would be much more enjoyable to have Zechs to himself. And not to have to worry about Quatre trying to corner him.

'You can't keep avoiding him, you know.' Duo grinned at him, proffering a jug of that drink – sangria.

'I'm not avoiding anyone!' Wufei said defensively. 'I simply have no desire to spend time with him.'

'That'll be tough since he's your next door neighbour. D'you know he's going to stay here for another week or so?'

'He's supposed to be leaving tomorrow. That's what you told me.' He'd counted on that.

'Yeah, well, plans change. He told Heero that he and Trowa needed to spend some time together. Apparently, things haven't been going so well for them.' He gave Wufei a direct look. 'Guess the honeymoon's over. Did Trowa tell you any of that yesterday?'

'He mentioned they were having some problems, yes.' Wufei took a sip of his drink. Part of him; the dishonourable part, couldn't help thinking that it would serve Quatre right to be dumped, to see how _he_ liked it. But Trowa did seem to care for the blond menace for some unfathomable reason and Wufei didn't want to see his friend hurt.

'Karma, huh? You know, you _will_ have to talk to him at some point. He's been sneaking glances at you all night.' Duo laughed. 'He either really wants to talk to you, or he's got a thing for you. Play your cards right, and you could end up as the filing in a blond sandwich. How'd you fancy that?'

'Not remotely. The blond I have is more than satisfactory, thank you.'

'Yeah, I guess he is, at that. Ooops, Quatre alert at ten o'clock. Good luck.'

He shot Wufei a quick grin and took off, leaving Wufei to face Quatre Winner, who was bearing down on him with a highly determined expression on his face.'

'Do you think we could talk for a moment? Please?'

Wufei sighed, setting down his glass. It was so tempting to refuse, to find Zechs and hide behind him.

'All right.'

Quatre took a deep breath. 'I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble.' He sounded like he was reciting a couple of lines he'd learned by heart, not meeting Wufei's eyes.

'Are you saying that because you mean it, or because Trowa wants you to?' Wufei asked bluntly.

Quatre's very fair skin flushed. 'You probably won't believe me, but I was concerned about Zechs.'

'It was nothing to do with you.'

Quatre shook his head. 'I'm sorry, but it was. He's a very good friend of mine. I know how badly he's been hurt before.'

'That doesn't give you the right to assume I'd do the same,' Wufei said tartly.

'As far as I knew you were planning to leave here in a couple of weeks!' Quatre snapped. 'I offered you a chance to stay here for as long as you wanted, and you refused. What was I supposed to think? I'm sorry, this isn't working out the way I'd planned. I wanted to apologise.'

'Fine. Now, you have. For the record, I have no intention of hurting Zechs, ever. I do realise you two are close, but he also happens to be my boyfriend and I do not appreciate other people interfering in my relationships, however well intentioned they may be.'

Quatre snorted. 'It's hardly a relationship. You've only just met him. What's going to happen when you decide you want to get back to your own life? Or are you going to move here and give up your career for someone you've known just a few days?'

'Like I said, it's none of your business,' Wufei said defensively. 'Zechs and I are quite capable of sorting out our own lives.' He shivered slightly, despite his own words. They had talked about it, a little, that morning; about what would happen in their future, resolving nothing except that they were both determined to be together. For now, they had a definite year, and Wufei could probably extend his sabbatical; once he kept writing, the university would want to keep him on the staff, even on a part time basis. They would sort it out, somehow. None of it was Quatre Winner's business, and he launched an offensive counter-attack. 'Now, what's happening between you and Trowa?'

'That's not really any of your affair anymore,' Quatre snapped.

'Yes, it is. Trowa and I are still friends. I don't think you have the monopoly on caring about the people in your life, do you?'

'Do you? Still care about him?'

'Well, of course, I do,' Wufei began, and then saw the expression in the blond's eyes. They were a rather insipid shade of blue, compared to Zechs' and he'd never seen the supremely self-possessed Quatre Winner at a loss before. 'Quatre…he's the one who left me. You know that.'

The other man shrugged; an oddly graceless gesture. 'You could have had him back in a second if you'd lifted one finger. That was all he wanted; to know you really cared about him.'

'No.' Wufei shook his head firmly. 'You're wrong. For the first few months after we split up, I did wonder if we might get back together sometime. Then he met you and that was that. You must know he's crazy about you.'

Quatre's eyes were suddenly huge, staring at him. 'When we first got together, I was convinced I was the rebound guy for him. A convenient blond on the side until you got your act together and decided you wanted him back. You're the one he was crazy about. Do you have any idea what he thinks of you? Or what it's like to be with someone whose ex happens to be brilliant and successful and incredibly talented and incredibly attractive?'

Wufei tried, very hard, to speak without stammering. None of this made sense. Trowa had left him, because he wasn't happy. That was a fact. Wasn't it? Trowa had said something, on the beach the previous day, about how Wufei had reacted to their break up, that he'd acted like he couldn't care less. Had he been expecting something different; for Wufei to plead with him to stay, to say how much he loved and wanted him?

'You're all those things too,' he said finally, and Quatre gave a bitter little laugh, along with a vehement shake of his head.

'No. I'm not. I've spent my whole life desperately trying to please my father, and it's never enough. I went to his old university and then went to work for my family's company. I've never even had the courage to tell him that I'm gay; he has to have guessed by now, but I've never actually _told_ him. It's one of the things Trowa and I argue about. One of the many things.'

'But you two always seemed so close.' Oh, it had rankled, that intimacy between the two of them. 'Every time I met the pair of you, you were all over him.'

The blond shrugged. 'Oh, yes. I was trying so hard to be the perfect boyfriend, to be everything he wanted. And I thought if you believed we were the perfect couple, you wouldn't…well, you wouldn't try to get him back.'

Oh, Gods. Wufei rubbed his forehead. He should have run away; dived over the side; anything to avoid this awful, awful conversation. Instead, he took ten deep breaths in succession.

'Quatre. Listen to me. It's not a competition. Trowa and I had broken up before he even met you. Yes, maybe I did think we might get back at some point, but once I saw the two of you together, the way he looked at you, it was obvious how he felt about you. It still is. Whatever problems you two are having, leave me out of them. It's something you and Trowa have to work out between the two of you.'

Those big, blue eyes gazed at him, in a way that was probably meant to look appealing. Odd, how two men could have similar colouring, and look so very different. Zechs glittered like a glacier in clear sunlight; Quatre just looked…. washed out.

'So you really aren't interested in him any more?'

'That isn't the point,' Wufei ground out. This conversation was starting to give him a headache; he needed Zechs. 'The _point_, Winner, is how you and Trowa feel about each other. If you trust him, then it shouldn't matter a damn how I feel about him.'

'I'm not very good at trusting people,' Quatre whispered.

'Well, that's not my problem. Oh, for God's sake, don't get upset.' Poor Trowa, having to put up with this all the time. Wufei reminded himself firmly that he was a good, honourable, fair person; however tempting it might be to leave Winner hanging. 'Look, I'll give you some advice. You need to talk to Trowa about this, not me. Maybe stop interfering in other people's lives for a while and try to sort out your own. For the record, I am with Zechs, we're blissfully happy and I don't want Trowa back. You need to focus on him, and stop trying to control everyone else. '

'Is everything all right?' Trowa appeared suddenly in front of them. 'Quatre?'

'He's a bit upset about something,' Wufei muttered, shoving Quatre, who was displaying a terrifying tendency to weep on his shoulder, at the other man. Trowa could look after the soggy little blond and Wufei would be able to escape and find Zechs and _leave_.

'What's wrong, love?' Trowa, a braver, better man than Wufei, gathered Quatre into his arms, murmuring softly to him. Fine, they could work something out between them.

'Do I want to know what all that was about?' Zechs was just a few seconds behind Trowa; it occurred to Wufei that they'd probably been watching the whole episode.

'I'll tell you later.' Wufei eyed the two full plates that Zechs was holding. 'I'm really sorry, but would you mind if we just left now? I'm not really hungry. I should say goodbye to Heero and Duo first though.'

Zechs chuckled. 'Don't worry about that. They went below a few minutes ago, and I guarantee they won't want any interruptions. Unless you want to want to take a little revenge on Duo for walking in on us the other day?'

'That actually sounds rather tempting, but maybe another time? Right now, I'd rather just go home.'

'Your wish is my command,' Zechs offered him a graceful court bow and took his arm. The sky was velvety dark above them, a tapestry for a million stars. Heartbreakingly beautiful. Like Zechs.

Wufei slid one arm around the taller man's waist, holding him close. The future, their future, was still as remote as the stars in the sky, and as infinite. They loved each other; they would make it work. For the present, he would enjoy being with Zechs, and concentrate on making him happy, and building a lasting relationship.

'Is everything all right? You and Quatre seemed to be having a very intense conversation. Do you want to talk about it?'

'Not really.' Wufei reached up and slid one hand through the cascade of Zechs' moonlit hair. 'It's not important. Not now. Remember the second day I was here, you brought me for a walk down here?'

'I remember kissing you.'

'I remember that too. I liked it.'

Zechs' mouth, those perfect, kissable lips, curved into a smile. 'If you only _liked_ it, I mustn't have done it very well.'

'I liked it a lot.' His arms wound themselves around the taller man's neck, pressing closer, pressing a whisper of a kiss to the base of Zechs' throat, the place that always made him groan, and followed it up with a nibble of his collarbone. 'You said we were officially a couple afterwards. I liked that too.'

'Mmm.' Zechs made that lovely moaning sound again, as Wufei dabbed his tongue at the place his teeth had just grazed. 'I like it when you do that. A lot.'

'Good.' Wufei licked his way up his lover's throat, loving the way Zechs' breath hitched when he fastened lips or teeth around a fold of skin. 'Do you realise, we haven't kissed properly for almost two hours?'

'Shocking.' To Zechs' credit, the words came out fairly steadily. 'Utterly shocking. I think we should remedy that, don't you?'

'I think we should. Oh, yes.' Damn, Zechs' shirt had a quite ridiculous amount of buttons; getting them undone while being kissed breathless wasn't easy. Especially not when Zechs' hands snaked under his own clothes, one seeking out a nipple and the other sliding under his waistband.

'Oh, _God_. Zechs.' His collapse onto the sand wasn't particularly graceful, more an undignified sprawl, but he didn't care. Not when Zechs followed him down, mouth sealing hungrily over his.

'Please..don't tell me this is going to be a repeat of that night in the moon garden,' Wufei begged, and then shivered at Zechs' low laugh.

'Certainly not. This time, I know just how demanding you are. I came prepared.'

'Prepared for pillage,' Wufei said happily. Oh, Gods, he'd have sand in all sorts of uncomfortable places, but it didn't matter, not just now, not with what Zechs' amazing, gifted, indescribably wonderful hands were doing to him.

'Pillage and plunder and all sorts of ravishment,' the blond agreed, and then there were stars everywhere, shooting down from the sky to explode across his brain as Zechs began to move in him.

After, Zechs carried him into the waves. An indignity he should have resented; it was years since anyone had done that; not since he was a little child, and even then he'd clamoured to be put down, to let him walk. Cradled in Zechs' arms, letting the cool, silky water wash over his skin, it didn't even occur to him to complain.

There was nobody to see anyway, just the two of them and silence and starlight and the sea. Nothing else mattered, just the man holding him, and the beauty of this place, and the night.

Zechs lowered him carefully so he was just drifting on the surface of the sea. Floating. He'd been floating in Quatre's pool that very first morning, transfixed by the blues of water and sky, and then he'd been captivated by Zechs' eyes, bluer than all the rest.

And he would be more than happy to spend the rest of his life meditating on that particular shade, gazing into his lover's eyes.

THE END


End file.
